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sciEiCE m FirtimG, 

A TEXT-BOOK OF 

The Elements of Agriculture, 

InclRding Agricultural Chemistry. 

BY R. S. THOMPSON. 

Printed oil Heavy Tin fed Pajyei', .Elef/antly 

Bound in Clothe Price by Mail, 

Post-imid, $1,00. 



The book hns been written in response to the widely ex- 
pressed desire for a text-book of tiie kin i tliat should be thor- 
ough and complete, and yet within the comprehension of all 
who are willing to give a reasouable degree of study to the 
subject. 

The chanter on Chemistry is thorough and complete, and 
fits iha student for the comprehension of other scientific 
writings. Tlie otlier ciuipters consider the soil nnd the aii'; 
how the plant grows an I how the animal live.*; the composi- 
tion, character, and uses of foods; the laws of feeding; results 
of experiments in fencing; prop^^r combination of foods for 
difft-rent purposes; methotls of saving and using fertilizers; 
valuation of food?, fertilizers. 

The book cont;dns a great number of valuable tables, many 
of which can be obtained in no other book. The book is one of 

Great Practical Value 

to every intelligent farmer. The tfiblcs of the valuation of 
different measures will alone be worth many times the price 
of the book. 

SCIENCE IN F.4SMIN(t is by no means a book of mere 
theory. It contains the results of tlie latest experiments and 
inve.^tigations, by the ablest agriculturalists of the day. It 
should be in every farmer's library. 
Address all orders to 

THE FARM ECONOMIST, 

Springfield, Ohio, 



THE 



VT 



AND 



ITS IMPROYEMENT. 



^ 



> n. BY A CORPS 0? Y\rRITERS: 



I 



RtsrTHOMPSON, MRS. M. D. KB WISH, 
''BE TH sample;' ''HA ZLE 7T," 
MAGGIJ: J. HENDERSON, 
MRS. CLARA D. OLNEp, - 



PCTBLISHED BY XnE FaRMEES' AdVAJTCS, 

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 

1883, 



2^01^4-^ 



K" 

av, 

^A!^ 



COI'YRIGHT, ly83, BY K. S. TUOMPSO: 





A Series of Practical Talks With Farmers, 
— BY— 

"Waldo F. !Brovia-i, 

One of the Most Popular /^gricuitura! Writers in the 
United States. 



Handsojtiely Printed on Heavy Tinted 

Faper and Elegantly Bound 

in Cloth. 

i' 

The Book is Well Arranged and Systematized, and 
Full of Practical Common Sense. 



PBICE, by 3fail, Postpaid - - ONE DOLLAR, 



Published by The Farm Economist, Springfieid, 0. 




WHAT IS SAID OF " SUCCESS IN FARMING." 

Two Chapters Worth More than the Price of the Book. 

I have rect ived Succkss in Fahming, and 1 luivtA r<^ci'ived 
from two cliripteifs — " Kami Biiildini; " und " Hired Help " — 
benefit worth far more than the price cf the book. 

Frankfurt, Ohio. A. B. Clixe. 



Every Mariner Ought to Have It. 

I have read Success IX Farmi.vg, and every farmer oneht 
to have it Ic Kur(<assfts my mo-t panguine expeor.-itions. 
There is no theory about it. It is all facis. A eliild caa 
uiidersrand it. It only needs to be read to be :ippr«i inted. 

^acun F. 0., Ohio, JosiiPU Lqvk, 



INTRODUCTION. 

This book, as will be seen by the title page, is by 
seTeral diflerent writers, but it has been the aim not 
to make a mere scrap book, but a work that should 
harmonize throughout. How far we have succeeded 
in this, the reader must be the judge. 

We had but little occasion to use the works of other 
writers. The poetry was picked up where we could 
find it. We knew who were the authors of some of 
the poems; others we did not. One piece, in the 
stress of the occasion, was written for the book. 
Mrs. Henderson's cook book, and "Housekeeping in 
the Bine Grass," have each been borrowed from, to 
tiie extent of a few receipts. 

The book was published that it might be useful. 
We send it out into the world, hoping that it may 
accomplish the end of its being. 



CONTENTS. 



PA.GE 
CHAPTER I. 

THE nOT^IE ON THE FARM. ...... 9 

CHAPTER II. 

BiriLDrKG THE HOME 15 

CHAPTER III. 

•VVTTHIX DOORS .29 

CHAPTER IV. 



ahotjNd the house. 



55 



CHAPTER V. 

FLOWERS FOR THE HOME. . . .71 

CHAPTER VI. 

HOUSE KEEPJC<^G .89 

CHAPTER VII. 

M.VNNERS - 11^ 

CHAPTER VIII. 

LEISURE HOURS 133 

CHAPTER IX. 

HEALTH EN THE HOME. . . • • • 1^3 

CHAPTER X. 

BREAKFAST, DIJTNER AND TEA- . . • .167 



THE HOME OH THE FARM. 



-Twere well if often 



To rag-ged farm-life came the gift 
To harmonize and soften. 

"If more and more we found the troth 
Of fact and fancy pliglited; 

And culture's charm and labors strength 
In rural homes united. 

"The simple life, the homely hearth, 
With beauties sphere enshrouding, 

And blessing toil where toil abounds, 
With graces more aboundinsr." 



CHAPTER I. 



THE HOME ON THE FARM. 



The chief end of all human labor is human hap- 
piness. The chief source of pure and elevating 
happiness is the home. The sweetest title that has 
ever been given to the heaven for which we long is 
"the home over there." The nearest approach to 
heaven that can be found upon the earth is a home 
in which abide peace, taste and culture and over 
which Love spreads her protecting wing. The best 
inheritance a man leaves his family is the memory of 
such a home ; the best gift he can make society is a 
family reared in such a home's pure atmosphere. 

Then, as the chief end of all human labor is happi- 
ness, and as happiness is found chiefly in the home, 
it is evident that the chief end of all labor on tlie farm, 
is the home on the farm. The measure of a man's 
success in farming is the character of his home, and 
science in farming is valuable in proportion as it en- 
ables the farmer, by wise management of soil and 
crops, to attain a better, a more comfortable and 
happy home for wife and family. 

The aim of the farmer should therefore be, not 

alone to improve his soil and increase the productions 

of his farm. This should be done, but it should be 

as the means to an end — the end being a bettei 
2 



10 THE HOIME ON THE FARM. 

home, more of the comforts and joys of life for his 
family, and more opportunity for moral, social and in- 
tellectual advancement and elevation. 

It is a mistake to suppose that a comfortable and 
happy home is attainable only to men of large means. 
Money is useful in the home, but money alone can 
never make one. It may make a palace, it cannot 
make a home. We have seen elegant buildings cost- 
ing thousands of dollars, furnished with lavish 
expenditure and provided with every luxury and con- 
venience heart could desire or money purchase, and 
which were not homes. Money is useful, a wonderful 
blessing, but there are some things which cannot be 
bought with money, and a home is one of these. 

Some of the happiest homes we have ever known 
were those of men with small farms and very moder- 
ate means. There comes now before our mind the 
picture of two homes — very ideal homes, yet they are 
the homes of men the world calls poor. 

Tliere is no place where the very ideal of a perfect 
home can be so nearly reached as on the farm. 

In the production of the true home there must be 
intelligence, and no class has more natural intelli 
gence than farmers and no persons are more favored 
by circumstances and surroundings for the develop- 
ment of intellect. If a farmer's family care for 
neither mental pleasures nor intellectual advance- 
ment, the cause is not to be found in their occupation, 
but in lack, either of inherited ability or proper train- 
ing. 

There must be taste and refinement to make a 
home, and where will we find surroundings so well 
calculated to guide and develop the taste, and refine 
and elevate the character, as on the farm ? Do not 



THE HOME ON THE FARM. 11 

the graceful vines, and blossoming flowers, and bend- 
ing trees, and fragrant winds unite to teach lessons 
the most elevating and refining? Surely, if there is 
any place on earth where Nature has indicated that 
taste, refinement, intelligence and culture should be 
found, it is in the home upon the farm. 

The character of a home has an influence upon the 
character of its inmates, which has not always been 
fully recognized. AVe are unconsciously influenced 
in tastes and character by that which surrounds us. 
If we are surrounded by that which is refined and 
beautiful, we learn to love that which is refined and 
beautiful in moral and intellectual life. If we are 
surrounded by ugliness and coarseness in physical 
things, ugh'ness and coarseness of mind and heart 
will cease to be repulsive to us. 

It is therefore the duty of every man who has a 
family, to surround them with all that will tend to 
refine their characters, elevate their lives and develop 
within them the love for the true, the good and the 
beautiful. And there is no place where this can be 
so well and so easily done as in the home upon the 
farm. 

The idea has been too long tolerated that there is 
something degrading in farming. We have been 
taught in our popular proverbs, in. story books, lec- 
tures and sermons, that the " horny fisted son of toil " 
had need for much muscle and little brains, and that 
any exhibition of love for elegance, refinement and 
beauty was an indication of unfitness for the position. 
We have been taught that farmers should be con- 
tent to wear coarse clothes, eat coarse food, use coarse 
language and have coarse homes. We have been 
taught that farmers and their boys and girls ought 



12 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

not to strive " to r.'sa above their station." It is great- 
ly to the credit of the farmers that they have never 
fully accepted this doctrine although it has been 
taught for centuries. 

Nor is there a shadow of truth in the doctrine. 
There can be nothing intrinsically degrading in the 
occupation which the Good Father gave to man in 
his primitive innocence. To say that the farmer is 
degraded by his occupation, is to olfer an insult to 
the Creator. 

Of course a farmer ought not to go beyond his 
means in dress, or house, or style of living, but there 
is no reason why a farmer should not have as com- 
fortable and attractive a home, as well educated a 
family, and live as well, and dress as well, use as good 
language and have as good manners as any other man 
with an equal income. There is nothing in his occu- 
pation that need interfere. 

It is not necessary that a farmer should be ignor- 
ant, or his family uneducated. There is no place 
where education can be of more practical value, nor 
where it can be the source of more unalloyed pleas- 
ure than on the farm. There is no class better fitted 
with the natural ability to acquire and use an educa- 
tion than the farmers. 

Neither is it necessary that farmers should be 
coarse and rude in their manners, and unacquainted 
with the laws of good breeding. There is nothing in 
the occupation that is in any way incompatible with 
true gentility. 

It is one of the good signs of the times that this old 
idea, of which we have spoken, is rapidly passing 
away. Farmers are beginning to liave a higher appre- 
ciation of themselves and of theii* calling, and are 



THE HOME ON THE FARM. 13 

securing from other classes a recognition of its true 
character. There is no way in which they can ac- 
complish more in this direction than by the improve- 
ment of home and home life. 

As has already been shown, the character of the 
farmer and his family will be influenced to a large 
extent by the home in which they live. Inasmuch, 
then, as the character of those who follow the occu- 
pation will determine the respect it will receive from 
the world, it is evidently the farmer's duty to en- 
deavor to give himself and family the happiest and 
most perfect home possible. He should cultivate his 
farm, feed his stock and improve his soil, having ever 
in view the great end of a home supplied with more 
comforts and adorned with more attractions. He 
should strive to elevate himself, mentally, morally 
and socially, and study to surround his family witTi 
influences that will educate their minds, refine their 
tastes and elevate their characters. This is a duty 
which he owes to himself, to his family, to his calling, 
to his community and to his country. 

To awaken a deeper interest in, and higher appre- 
ciation of the true home ; to incite all farmers to 
greater eff'orts in the improvement of their homes, to 
show that a home worthy of the name is attainable by 
all ; and to aid those who are desirous of better and 
happier homes, by giving them the experience* of 
those who have traveled the same road before, is the 
purpose of this book. 



THE HOUSE THAT HAS CLOSETS. 

How dear to the heart of the house-keeping woman 

Are comforts of which so few architects tell ; 
Nice children, good servants and plenty of room in 

The well fitted mansion in which they must dwell. 
But the first of the blessings kind fortune can give her, 

If she in the city or country abide. 
Is that which she longs for and covets forever, 

The big, airy closet, her joy and her pride — 
The roomy, clean closet, the well ordered closet, 

The big, airy closet, her joy and her pride. 

The house may be perfect from garret to cellar. 

Well lighted, well aired, with cold water and hot, 
And yet to the eye of a feminine dweller. 

If closetless, all is as if it were not. 
How oft has she sunk like a dove that is wounded, 

How oft she has secretly grumbled and sighed, 
Because she saw not, though with all else surrounded. 

The big, airy closet, her joy and her pride — 
The roomy, clean closet, the well ordered closet, 

The big airy closet, her joy and her pride. 



CHAPTER II. 



BUILDING THE H03LE. 



The first point to consider in preparing to build a 
home is the location on the farm. 

The nearer the center of the farm the home can be 
placed, the more convenient it will be for those who 
work the farm, and the less distance will have to be 
traveled from the house to the fields and from the 
fields to the barn. This saving of labor will be so 
considerable in a life-time that it will pay to secure 
a location 'as near the center of the farm as is con- 
sistent with other interests. 

It is not, however, a good plan to put the house a 
quarter or half mile from the public road. When 
possible the home lot should front on the road. 
Otherwise, either a lane must be kept up, which in- 
volves waste of land and unnecessary fencing, or else 
the house must be approached through a series of 
gates, which, when in good order, give considerable 
trouble, and when in bad order are an intolerable 
nuisance. 

Besides, the home will be more pleasant and cheer- 
ful if the inmates can see the passers-by upon the 
road. The women of the family, who are often kept 
considerably within doors, obtain much pleas- 
ure aud companionship in this way. In the dark 



16 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

ages, habitations were set as far from the highway as 
possible in order to be out of the reach of traveling 
marauders. In this country and this age, we no 
longer need to make our homes fortifications, and 
comfort, convenience and sociability alike advise us 
to have the home lot front upon the public road. 

Convenience to neighbors should also be considered 
in determining the place for the home lot. The 
woman in a farm home is often left alone, or with one 
or two little children, while the men are at a distant 
part of the farm, and the older children at school, 
and her situation is not very pleasant nor always 
safe, if there is no other house within sight or call. 

When two farms join, it will often improve the 
condition of life in both liomes, if the houses are put 
within hailing distance, and the social advantages and 
safety for wife and little ones thus gained may often 
well be allowed to outweigh considerations of con- 
venience to the farm. 

While the corner of the farm is the worst place in 
which to put the home, with reference to convenience 
to the farm, yet when four farms corner together, if 
the four homes are placed in the adjoining corners 
the advantages of companionship and mutual help 
may far outweigh the disadvantage of distance to 
travel across the farm. In the newer sections of 
country where farms are being laid out, this idea 
might often be put into practice, and little farm com- 
munities formed which would greatly relieve the 
loneliness and other dispdvantages of a new country. 

It will be seen, then, that the points to be consid- 
ered in selecting the site for the house are : 

1. Convenience to the farm. 

2. Convenience to road. 



BUILDmG THE HOME. 17 

S. Convenience to neighbors. 

And that the first consideration should be made 
subordinate to the other two. 

SIZE OF HOME LOT. 

The size of farm and house must be tal^en into con- 
sideration in deciding this question. If a man has 
but forty acres of land on which to make a living, it 
would usually be absurd for him to devote five acres 
of that to lawn and park around his house. On the 
other hand there is nothing more pitiful than to see a 
great barn of a house set on an eighth of an acre of 
land, and with a high fence all around it. We are 
always reminded of a prison or a work house. 

Let it be remembered that the object of the farm is 
to furnish health, comfort and happiness to the in- 
mates of the home, and that a reasonable amount of 
land will do more for the accomplishment of this ob- 
ject, if used in a home lot, than it could if planted in 
corn and potatoes. 

If the home lot is to include only the house, lawn, 
flower garden, back yard, woodshed, etc., a half acre 
will be a very fair size ; but if in the home lot is to 
be included the poultry yard, vegetable garden, etc., 
an acre is as little as should be used for the purpose. 

Of course, if a farmer cannot possibly spare more 
than a quarter, or even an eighth of an acre for the 
home, he must do the best he can with this, and by 
taste and judgment, quite an attractive liome can be 
made even with such narrow surroundings. But we 
think he should study the matter well before deciding 
that he cannot devote at least half an acre tQ the 
home. 



18 THE HOlfE ON THE FARM: 

DISTANCE FROM ROAD. 

While we believe that when practicable the home 
lot should front on the road, we are far from believ- 
ing that the house should be on the front edge of the 
home lot. That abomination— a house crowded to 
the very edge of the highway — should be left to the 
unfortunate dwellers in cities and towns who cannot 
help themselves. Let us have the farm house near 
enough to the road to look cheerful and sociable, but 
not so near as to make a respectable front yard im- 
possible, to destroy privacy and cause the house to 
be filled with dust by every passing vehicle. We 
would never put a farm house within fifty feet of the 
road, and would prefer a hundred or a hundred and 
fifty if that distance were obtainable. 

SIZE OF HOUSE. 

The present and prospective needs of the family 
must be considered in determining the size to build. 
A large house does not cost as much in proportion to 
its size as a small one, and if a large house will be 
needed it is better, if possible, to erect it in the first 
place. But a large house that is not needed is an in- 
vestment of capital which brings no return, a constant 
expense for taxes, insurance and repairs, and adds 
greatly to the labor of the family, as dirt will accu- 
mulate in rooms, whether they are occupied or not, 
and compel attention. A house of moderate size, 
wisely planned and adapted to the needs of the fami- 
ly which is to occupy it, will give better satisfaction 
than one which is unnecessarily large. 

But of one thing beware. Do not build for the 
g3,Jve of outdoing your neighbors. Build a house that 



BUILDING THE HOlilE. 19 

will meet your needs, build for comfort, build for con- 
venience, build to make a home, but do not build a 
monument to show that you have more money than 
your neighbors. A plain and unpretentious cottage 
may be neat, homelike, comfortable and genteel. A 
house which bears upon its face the fact that it was 
built to exhibit the amount of money its owner was 
able to invest in a house, is always and irredeemably 
vulgar. 

In building, let the motto be : " Every dollar that 
can be jspared, for comfort and convenience, beauty 
and taste, but not one (?ent for mere display." 

FRONTAGE. 

Some writers advise that under all circumstances 
the house should be made to stand square with the 
points of the compass. Where the roads are laid out 
north, south, east and west, this will do very well, 
but nothing looks worse than a house just a little out 
of true with the road. We should advise that, when 
practicable, the house should stand true with the 
road. There may even be an advantage in having a 
house present its corners instead of its sides to the 
points of the compass. In the latter case there may 
be rooms in the house which will have only north 
windows, and which, consequently, will get but little 
direct sunshine from April to October and none what- 
ever from October to April. When a house stands 
with the corners towards the cardinal points every 
room will be certain to receive the direct raj^s of the 
sun at some time during the day. 

We think east is the best direction for the house to 
face. By this the back of the house will be in the 



20 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

shade during the morning, and the front will have 
shade during the afternoon and evening, the portions 
of the day when this part of the house is most likely 
to be used. Next to an eastern front we would com- 
mend one to the south. This will leave the whole 
front in the shade after four o'clock on summer after- 
noons, and will make the front rooms cheerful in 
winter, when sunlight is welcome. The kitchen 
should be on the west side if practicable. Whon this 
cannot be, arrangements should be made for shading 
it from sunrise till noon. A kitchen in summer-time 
is warm enough at the best, without being subjected 
to the direct rays of a July sun. 

PLANNING THE HOME. 

It is not the purpose of this book to furnish ready- 
made plans for houses, but rather to offer hints that 
will be helpful to the young farmer in selecting his 
plan. 

Shall the house be one-story, a story-and-a-half, 
or two-story ? 

A one-story house is convenient; there are no 
stairs to go up and down. It is but a short trip from 
bed rooms to sitting room or kitchen. For a small 
family a one -story house is often pleasant, comfort- 
able and convenient. It costs more in proportion to 
the number of rooms it contains than either a story- 
and-a-half or two-story house. In malarial regions 
it is not considered wise to sleep on the first floor. 
When a large family is to be provided for, a one-story 
house of sufficient size would cover so much ground 
as to cease to be convenient. 

A story-and-a-half house is usually the most incon- 



BUILDING THE HO^ME. 21 

venient and nneconomical that can be built. It costs 
almost as much as a two-story house, for it requires 
the same amount of foundation, floors and roof, and 
these are the most expensive portions of the building. 
The half story rooms are usually uncomfortable, can 
seldom be properly ventilated and are warm in sum- 
mer. If the extra space of the half story is needed 
only for storage, and the builder can stand the ex- 
pense for this purpose, and for the sake of additional 
coolness in the lower rooms, it may be well to build 
a story-and-a-half ; but if the ujiper rooms are needed 
for permanent habitation it will be far better to be at 
the extra expense of continuing the walls a few feet 
higher and making a two-slory house. 

What shall be the general form of the house? 

Taste, circumstances, and surroundings will have 
to be consulted in deciding this question. It will be 
well to remember that the nearer the house approaches 
to a true square the less outside wall will be required 
in proportion to the inner capacity, and tlie less will 
be the expense of keeping it warm. Perfectly square 
houses, however, are rarely either handsome or con- 
venient. A little irregularity in the form of a house 
not only improves its appearance, but gives better 
opportunities for securing light and ventilation. 

When the soil and drainage will permit, every 
house should have a good cellar. It costs something 
at the first, but will be a permanent source of econo- 
my and convenience. No man has a right to expect 
his wife to go perhaps a hundred yards down a hill to 
a spring-house Avhen it is possible for him to provide 
her with a good, cool, airy cellar with a concrete or 
cement floor. If the location is such that drainage 
for the cellar cannot be obtain ad, you will be better 



22 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

oil' without one. A wet cellar renders the whole 
house unwholesome and many a so called "mysteri- 
ous dispensation of Providence " might be traced to 
an undrained cellar. 

Whether you have a cellar or not, abundant means 
should be provided for permitting: a free circulation 
of air beneath the house. Of course the openings for 
this purpose should be so arranged that they can 
readily be closed during severe weather, otherwise 
the house will have cold floors, a fruitful source of ill 
health. 

If the house is to be of brick, the foundation should, 
when practicable, be of stone, with a good stone cop- 
ing to prevent tlie ascent of moisture in the wall. A 
frame house may rest on a brick foundation, but stone 
is more durable and is to be preferred where the ex- 
pense is not too great. Where stone is not obtainable, 
an excellent substitute is sometimes to be found in 
concrete. 

Have the foundation built up a reasonable distance 
above the level of the ground. A house set close to 
the ground is likely to be damp and unhealthy. A 
single step from the level of the yard to the floor of 
the house is not suflicient. Better set the house at 
least two feet above the level of the ground, and then 
grade up so that the floor of the verandah will be 
eight inches above the yard, and the floor of the house 
eight inches above that of the verandah. This grad- 
ing up secures drainage around the house, and also 
gives the needed elevation without so many steps. 
At the back of the house the grading should be suf- 
ficient to require but one step to the kitchen floor. 

One of the most objectionable characteristics of a 
house is dampness. Brick houses are more likely to 



BUILDING THE HOSIE. 23 

be damp than frame ones, and many persons imagine 
that the moisture soaks through the walls. This is 
sometimes the case, but the " sweating " of a brick 
wall is more often the result of its coldness, which 
condenses the atmospheric moisture upon it in the 
same way that dew is condensed on the outer surface 
of an ice-pitcher. Whatever the cause of dampness 
in a brick wall may be, it can be entirely overcome 
by " furring " the walls, instead of applying the plas- 
tering directly to the bricks, as is commonly done. 
"Furring" consists in nailing strips of inch lumber 
about two feet apart up and down the inside walls 
and lath and plastering on these, the same as on the 
studding of a frame house. The .walls of a brick 
house treated in this manner will be neither damp 
nor cold and the rooms will never have that chilliness 
which causes many persons to object to a brick house. 

The w^alls of frame houses may be made much 
warmer by brick-nogging them, the spaces between 
the studding and between the weather-boarding and 
lathing being filled in with brick. Soft and imperfect 
brick are commonly used for this purpose, and clay 
for mortar. We have seen frame houses built in this 
way which were as warm as any brick house. Walls 
thus prepared burn much less rapidly than the ordi- 
nary hollow-frame wall. Paper is now much used in 
house building, the frame being covered with build- 
ing paper before tlie weather-boarding is put on. 
This keeps out the wind, but does not interfere in any 
way with the progress of a fire. 

In deciding on the plan, select one which gives a 
hall, even though it be but four feet square. If the 
front door opens directly into the parlor or sitting 
room, a cold blast of air, perhaps accompanied by raio 



24 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

or snow, will be admitted every time the door is 
opened in winter, and it will be impossible to keep 
the house comfortable or of an even temperature. 
We remember an old house built with a hall ten feet 
wide, extending clear through, with big folding doors 
at each end, and in summer-time this big hall was 
constantly used as the family sitting room, for it was 
always airy and always cool. But if a big hall cannot 
be obtained, strive to have at least an entry. Let the 
front door open from a verandah or portico; it gives 
the house an air of cheerfulness and hospitality. 
Moreover, it is extremely unpleasant for a visitor who 
has arrived in a storm to be compelled to stand in the 
ram, awaiting the perhaps rather tardy answer to his 
summons. A verandah is better than a portico, and 
if it is of a liberal width, say six or eight feet, it makes 
a pleasant place for family and visitors to gather on ■ 
summer evenings. A back porch at the kitchen is 
both convenient aud helpful, especially if it is partly 
closed in so as to be somewhat protected from the 
weather. The cistern pump may well be on this 
porch, and here may be a convenient shelf for wash 
bowl, a roller towel, looking glass, comb and brush, 
etc., so that the men on coming from their work may 
make themselves presentable before entering the 
house. Here, also, may be a closet in which overalls, 
rubber coats, etc., can be hung. A long box against 
the wall, with a hinged lid, will serve the double pur- 
pose of a seat and a place for keeping rubber boots, 
slippers, blacking brusli, etc. 

With a back porch and such conveniences, which 
are simple, cheap and easily provided, the men com- 
ing Irom their work to their meals can readily wash, 
leave their overalls, and put on clean coats, exchange 



BmLDING THE HOlifE. 25 

muddy boots for clean slippers, and enter the house 
clean, pleasant and comfortable. It is necessary for 
a farmer to go about the stable and the pig pen, but 
it is not necessary for him to bring the iDerfumes of 
these places into his dining room. 

It is a mistake to attempt to economize in building 
b/ making the ceilings low. Very little is gained in 
cost, while much is lost in health and comfort. The 
correct hight of the ceilings will depend a little on the 
size of the rooms. Large rooms necessitate higher 
ceilings. For most farm houses ten feet will be found 
a good hight for the tirst srory and nine for the sec- 
ond. Low ceilings render a house close, dark and 
unhealthy. On the other hand, ceilings which are 
unnecessarily high make the rooms difficult to warm, 
and give them an appearance of lonesomeness. 

Every room in the house should be so arranged that 
it can secure the direct rays of the sun at some time 
during the day. Sunshine is the best of all disinfec- 
tants, a sweetener of homes and of hearts. Secure 
abundance of light in every room. Glass is nearly as 
cheap as bricks or lumber, and large windows add but 
little to the cost of a building. A dark house is never 
a health}^, and seldom a clean one. Dirt which can 
not be seen is not likely to be removed. 

Windows should be long, occupying as nearly all 
the space between floor and ceiling as possible. 
When the distance from floor to window sill is three 
feet or more, the room is likely to have a prison-like 
appearance, and good ventilation cannot be secured 
unless the windows reach well towards the ceiling. 
Both upper and lower sashes should be movable, and 
box frames are by far the most desirable. The extra 
cost at first is not great, and the economy in catches 



26 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

■which are always getting out of repair, and the saving in 
glass, broken by the occasional fall of a sash, make them 
much the cheapest in the end. On no account allow 
the upper sash to be fastened in. INo room can be 
rightly ventilated unless means can be provided for 
the escape of warm and impure air from the upper 
portion of the room. 

There is nothing so dear to the heart of the orderly 
housewife as a house well supplied with closets. It 
is true we have heard housekeepers accused of using 
closets as mere storehouses for rubbish, but not so 
does the tidy housekeeper. She uses closets for the 
safe storage of things which, if left about the house, 
make disorder and confusion, accumulate dirt, and 
are themselves injured by exposure to dust. If, then, 
the house-builder desires to make the wife who is to 
occupy it supremely happ}'", and at the same time to 
save her unnecessary care and labor, let him see that 
every room in the house, except the parlor, has at 
least one good closet. Not a little pigeon box of a 
place, but a good roomy closet that will be of some 
service and can be kept clean. In each bed room 
should be a closet with hooks for hanging coats and 
dresses, and above these one or two shelves. In the 
dining room should be a large closet with shelves for 
dishes, and drawers for table cloths, napkins, spoons, 
knives and forks, etc. In many farm houses such a 
closet will be found more convenient and useful than 
an expensive "side-board." 

In planning the general arrangement of the house 
care and thought should be taken to save the house- 
wife every unnecessary step. If possible, the famdy 
bed room should be on the first floor, adjoining the 
sitting room, and not too farfronjthe kitchen, "VYheu 



BUILDING THE HOSIE. 27 

the wife and mother is doing the work of the house- 
hold, or even superintending it, and perhaps caring 
for a restless baby or a sick child, she should not be 
compelled to make frequent journeys up and down a 
fliglit of stairs between kitchen and bedroom. 

The floors of the rooms should be on the same level. 
When there is a step down from the kitchen to the 
back porch, two more steps, perhaps, down to the 
pump, then one or two up to the wood shed, a fearful 
amount of a woman's strength is consumed in these 
unnecessary steps. Wood and water should both be 
under cover, and where they can be reached with but 
few steps from the kitchen stove. 

While the size of the rooms must to a certain extent 
be governed by the size of the house and the depth 
of the builder's purse, small bed rooms should be 
<ivoided. If room is scarce, it will be better to omit, 
altogether, that state parlor, the furnishing of which 
so often draws heavily on the purse, and which too 
frequently is kept the year around in solemn loneli- 
ness and darkness, and devote more space to the bed 
rooms. Very siiiall bed rooms are liable to be close 
and unhealthy. 

The kitchen also should be of liberal size. The 
farmer who has "all out-of-doors" for his work room, 
and then complains sometimes that it is "close," 
ought not to expect his wife to do the cooking for a 
family shut up with a red hot cook stove jn a seveur 
by-nine kitchen. 



THE HEARTHSTOKE LIGHT. 

Gleam warm and bright, heartlistone light 

And make it sunny weather 
This raging, roaring winter's night, 

For old and young together ! 
Give goodly cheer, as, gathered here 

In tenderest communion, 
We watch the waning of the year 

With hearts and hopes in union ; 
And tells us Time is in his prime, 

Tliough fade the chill Decembers — 
That Love has e'er its tropic clime 

Around your glowing embers ! 

O home-light warm ! shield from the storm, 

And from all blight and chilling. 
Henceforth for aye each tender form 

Within your gladness thrilling ! 
Fore'er shut out all dark and doubt, 

And every danger from us. 
And weave our future all about 

With hope's beguiling promife, 
While Age its youth, in seeming truth, 

Bears to the distant portal 
Where Life knows ne'er a thought of ruth, 

And Youth is made immortal ! 



CHAPTER III. 



WITHIN DOOJIS. 



At that season of the year when Spirea lifts its 
feathery blooms, and hundred-leaf and musk-cluster 
roses are filling old fashioned gardens with their 
sweetness, there often comes the memory of a coun- 
try home, whose rest and beauty and Christian in- 
fluence, for nearly half a century, found their way 
into many lives, as sweetly and quietly as the breath 
from flower gardens comes in at open windows. Who 
is there who cannot recall some such country home ? 
Without, bees humming over lilac hedges and beds 
of tulips, red and yellow, in the sunshine. Within, 
cool and shadowy, with not a fleck of dust on the 
home-made carpet or well-worn splint chairs, or on 
the high mantelshelf whose ornaments of feather fans 
and quaint silhouettes, in mahogany frames, were 
unchangeable as the old clock on the corner-board, 
where it had stood so long ticking away the peaceful 
summers and merry winters. The winters were 
indeed merry in the old time farm house ! Great 
logs blazed in the chimney place, and there were 
appleparings and quiltings ; and on many an even- 
ing guests and home folks would gather around the 
long table, where wax candles reflected their light in 
the polished top, and it was a mellow flute that gave 



So THE HOBTE ON THE FARjf. 

the first fluttering notes of " Bonnie Doon," or, "BI116 
Eyed Mary," or, was joined by a chorus of voices in 
" Scots Wha Hae " until the rafters rang again. But 
times are changed, and we are changed with them. 
The old farm house is falling into decay and another 
is rising in its place. Dimly burning candles have 
given way to the bright oil lamp, and the low flute to 
the sweet, clear notes of a piano, and the young 
farmer and his wife who cannot have many things 
that were part of the life of the old house feel the need 
of something to take their place — but let them be- 
ware lest they let fade, with the past, that which will 
be a loss to self and home. First, are simplicity and 
truth, for without these no country home is lovely. 
Instinct teaches almost every one that the elaborate 
furniture which looks well in lofty city dwellings is 
out of taste when it tries to make a home for itself in 
a broad-roofed, airy country house. 

But above all, let truth be kept in the country home. 
Let the house never appear to be what it is not, any 
more than the dwellers in it would assume to be what 
they are not. The chief need which we feel in the 
modern farm house is a style of furnishing which will 
lighten the labor of the housewife. Argue as one may 
there is no escaping the fact that the women of to- 
day have not more than half the strengh of the wo- 
men who inhabited the old farm house, and yet they 
are expected to accomplish an equal amount of labor, 
and, in addition are burdened with more care. 

Let us see if the new house, then, cannot be lurnished 
in a manner to lighten the labor and make its per- 
formance more of a pleasure. 

The front door of the old farm house often opened 
into a hall — let us hope that the new house has one 



WITHIN DOORS. 31 

also, and, that it is the usual way for the coming in 
and going out of the family and of strangers. 

If the floor of the hall is of good wood it maybe 
oiled. Two coats of the following mixture : One pint 
turpentine, one pint litharge (or drj'er) and three 
pints boiled linseed oil, will give pine wood a light 
brown color which is darkened by each successive coat 
and by age. The oil is put on with a brush and with 
the grain of the wood. Such an oiled floor can be 
easily kept clean in the country, where there is little 
dust to settle upon it, by being wiped with a damp 
cloth once a week, and by having a serviceable door 
mat just outside, where every one should be polite 
enough to wipe their feet before entering. This is al- 
together a great saving of strength in lifting heavy 
carpets and furniture in house cleaning. But if the 
bare oiled floor is not liked, a white or checkered 
matting is perhaps the next best thing for summer 
wear, and can be replaced in winter by a carpet of 
some quiet color, and, if possible, of a conventional 
design. There should be a table in the hall (provided 
there is no hat-rack), of dark wood and solid and 
sensible locking, where hats and coats may be laid. 
Above, a large looking glass, of about the same width 
as the table is long, should hang, but if this is be- 
yond the purse of the house furnisher a small liand- 
glass costing not more than fifty cents or one dollar, 
can be kept in a drawer of the table, together with a 
comb and brush, for the use of the stranger who may 
fear coming into the parlor with disordered locks. 
Or, the table lackme; a drawer, all three can be kept 
in a prettily lined basket on the table. Besides the 
table there should be one or two plain, but comfort- 
able chairs, or an old fashioned settle with tasteful 



32 THE HOME OlSf THE FARM. 

cushions. If there is a window in the hall it should 
"be curtained with some heavy material of a neutral 
or quiet color. Double-faced canton flannel is good 
and keeps fresh much longer in the country than in 
town. Double width goods is sixty-two inches wide 
and costs about eighty cents per yard, while the 
single is about half the width and half the price. 
Olive green of medium shade makes a much hand- 
somer curtain if a band of old gold or deep crimson, of 
the same material, nine inches wide, be stitched 
across at just the hight of the v>^indowsill. Another 
band may be stitched across the curtain ten inches 
from the top. 

The best and most tasteful way to hang such a cur- 
tain is to buy the pole and rings, kept at furnishing 
or dry-goods houses, for that purpose. The cheapest 
of these poles will cost one dollar or one dollar and 
fifty cents. They are easily fastened to the window 
jam by means of screws, and the curtain, which is 
made just long enough to clear the floor an inch, is 
fastened to the rings at equal distances. 

One necessary piece of furniture for the hall is a 
lamp. The handsomest for this purpose is a hanging 
globe, l3ut if this is too expensive a side bracket lamp 
will be quite as useful. One of these latter, with a 
reflector that can be turned in any direction may be 
had for the small sum of a dollar and a half, and if 
lighted regularly after dusk will add much to the 
cheerfulness and comfort of the house. 

A door from the hall leads into the parlor. It is a 
cheery room where the sun comes in at the windows, 
and where in winter time a bright fire is burning on 
the hearth. In summer it is kept cool and free from 
flies by closed shutters and wire window- screens, and 



WITHIN DOOfeS. S3 

at any season of the year it is the place the family 
naturally gather when the heavier work of the day 
is done. 

Mother and daughter bring their light sewing' here, 
and the farmer looks forward to his noon in the par- 
lor where hi© easy chair and newspaper await him. 
The snnny faces of the children are found there at al- 
most any hour of the day, and, while they are as 
merry as crickets, they understand that here their 
play is never to be boisterous or troublesome in any 
way to others. They obey, too, the rule which per- 
mits a limited number of playthings and ^only those 
which will not cause much disorder in the room. 

If such a parlor have nothing better upon the floor 
than a home-made carpet, and nothing more by way 
of furniture than a few plain chairs, a comfortable 
lounge, creton curtains of dainty design, a shelf with 
a few books, a table with a good lamp, the latest news- 
paper and magazine, and the rule which govern all 
who enter, be love to his neighbor, it will become the 
spot of all the neighborhood where people like to go. 

But if the farmer is able to lurnish the parlor better, 
why not gratify the taste of his lamily and himself? 
being careful in the furnishing, however, to avoid in 
every particular all that might look flashy or be only 
for show. An exceedingly pleasant parlor in the 
house of a well-to-do farmer had the floor oiled to the 
width of tAVO and a half feet around the edges and the 
center covered with an ingrain carpet in shades of 
brown, with a dark red border. The windows looked 
toward the east, and, with true artistic taste, the walls 
had been papered with a delicate buff. In summer 
the window curtains were creamy cheese-cloth, hung 
from poles, and in winter they were replaced by warm 



34 THE HOlsrE ON THE FARM. 

looking ones of dark red felt. The latter had been 
lined, by the deft fingers of the farmer's eldest 
daughter, with canton flannel of the same shade. 

The piano cover was of brown felt, trimmed with a 
band of plush matching the curtains in color, and a 
scarf table cover was like it, with only tlie addition 
of a red fringe. Open bookshelves, about four and a 
half feet in height, ran across one end of the room, and 
the top was covered with a scarf of dark red felt. 
Here the ornaments of the room — and they were few 
— Avere placed. Among them was a large bronze 
colored vase filled with purple asters or red chrysan- 
themums, as the season might be. Beside the vase, 
on a small easel, was the photograph of a youthful 
Juno, which had as an appropriate and beautiful 
background, an immense fan of peacock feathers. 

Of the two framed pictures which the room boasted 
one hung above the bookshelves and the other over 
the mantelpiece. The latter was a good engraving 
of " The Holy Family," by Knaus, and the beauty of 
the virgin mother's face, and the sweetness of the 
child angels who pressed about her, and the wonder- 
ful babe on her knee seemed to pervade the atmos- 
phere of the already lovely room. 

Another parlor, equally pleasant and restful, and 
where one was always sure ta meet cheery friends, 
whether the evening were a sultry summer one or 
snow lay thick on the ground, was more plainly fur- 
nished. During the winter the floor was covered 
with a good ingrain carpet of some geometrical pat- 
tern in shades of gray, brightened by a few lines of 
red. A warm red rug lay before the open fire. The 
sofa was covered with rep of the same shade, and a 
cushion for the sewing chair and a footstool repeated 



WITfilK DOORS. 35 

the color. On a small table, drawn near the fire, were 
kept the latest newspapers, a small work basket and 
a polished student lamp. 

There was a larger table in the room which held the 
inkstand and other writing materials, and where, on 
winter evenings, the simple tea was occasionally 
served. After the tea things were removed, the chil- 
dren, with a lamp to themselves, would gather around 
the table with their games, their drawing or their 
books. In summer fragrant white matting took the 
place of the carpet. A linen cover was put over the 
warm looking sofa, and the white muslin window cur- 
tains, with only a simple trimming of bullion fringe, 
were fresh laundried, without starch, and tied back with 
ribbons. Three small hanging shelves were snfficient 
to hold the few well read books that had found their 
way, one by one, into the house, and over the mantel 
shelf hung another refining influence — a large and 
fine engraving of Sir Joshua Rejniolds' "Angel 
Heads." It was the first thing to greet the eye upon 
entering, and its gentle influence seemed to follow 
one's going out. As a little country girl said, "she 
felt happier every time for looking at it." 

One rule to be remembered in fitting up the parlor 
and all other rooms of the farm house is, that while 
one should furnish as loell as his means will allow, he 
should, on the other hand, never g) beyond the limits 
of his purse — that is, nothing should be bouglit that 
cannot be renewed, without great eff"ort, when worn 
out. In curtains and carpets quiet colors are always 
in good taste, although they may not be just at the 
hight of the fashion. But if bright colors are liked 
better, they should incline toward the richer, darker 
shades. Rooms looking toward the south require cool 



II 



36 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

colors, such as grays, and even bine is sometimes 
suitable. But perhaps the best hangings for the south 
(or for the east) are the medium shades of olive green 
now so plentifully manufactured. They light up 
very cheerfully, too, when decorated with bands of 
light yellow or lemon color. 

Rooms with a northern aspect are more pleasing if 
the walls have a faint red flush, or the hangings are 
of red or some other warm color. The present fashion 
of dark wall papers tends to lessen the apparent size 
of a room, while light coloring on the walls en- 
larges it. 

The best plan is to have the wood work (if it is 
painted instead of being oiled) somewhat lighter 
than the carpet, and the walls a little lighter still. If 
the shade or color desired cannot be found in wall 
paper, calcimine may be used. The less of decided 
figure in a wall paper, the better background it 
becomes for pictures — and of these, let us hope, there 
will be as many in the new farm house as can be 
afforded. 

By pictures to hang upon the walls we do not mean 
photographs of the family or of our friends. It is true 
that they are very dear to us, but that does not make 
them so to every one. Many of them are beautiful 
to us, too, but Ihat does not make them the less gazed 
upon with idle curiosity or unspoken criticism by 
others. 

Let the dear faces and figures then, some of them in 
the garb of past years and some in that of more modern 
times, be kept for our own room and for ourselves. 
See this fan-shaped cluster of faces arranged above 
the carved bracket? We loved them every one, and 
they loved us. This picture on the slender easel, 



WITHIN DOORS. 37 

which stands upon the dressini^-table, is that of the 
sister who journeyed into that '' far country " so many 
years ago. How^ often she has brushed her long, fair 
hair before this very mirror! How many times her 
quiet voice has sounded in this room ! Olr, we may 
be pardoned if we stop often to look closer at the pic- 
ture through our tears. And if we sometimes lay a 
cluster, freshly gathered, of the flowers that she liked 
best, beside the faded picture, who is by to think it 
strange, or wonder at it ? 

Yes, let the dear, familiar faces, that are so much 
more lovely to us than to any one else, be kept out 
of the general sitting room — and something hang on 
the wall in their place — something that will be a 
pleasure to all. 

But what to choose is the first question. 

The best inexpensive pictures are photographs of 
paintings that have received time's and tlie world's 
verdict — good. But if a knowledge of these is lacking, 
the best plan is to have recourse to some friend whose 
advice may be relied upon — and if possible let the 
critical friend be the purchaser. A photograph from 
an etching by Aufrej^ called " Trees and Water " and 
"The Mill "by Rembrandt are beautiful. ''Mother 
and Child," from the Sistine Madonna, one will never 
weary of, and Heber's '^Madonna of the Deliverance" 
in photograph form is worth possessing. Landseer's 
" Red Deer of .Chillingham," and liis ''^Wild Cattle " 
are just what one wants for a dining room. 

But in pictures which can only be procured in 
smaller photograh form — that is, when mounted on 
cardboard, measuring no more thaji 11x14 inches — 
one can scarcely go amiss if he ask for those of Mil- 
let, the French peasant painter, while ''The Willows" 



38 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

etched after Corot's painting, and Ruysdael's " Trees 
and Water " bring spring and summer into the house 
in midwinter. 

However, in selecting pictures, as in all other orna- 
ments and furnishings, let the choice bo those that 
will give the most general pleasure. 

In one's own bedroom individual taste may reign 
supreme, not only in the style of furnishing and in 
choice of colors, but in the matter of pictures and 
knicknacks. One glance into such a room usually 
tells the story of the ocupant's character, and often 
it is the room that has cost less money and more 
thought that is most inviting. 

According to the taste or fancy the Hoor may have 
a large rug or drugget in the center, with an oiled bor- 
der of almost any width, or there may be several 
smaller rugs, or the floor be entirely covered with 
matting— solid red matting being handsome, if it can 
be obtained. For an example, the very dainty room 
of a young lady has the entire floor oiled, and before 
the dressing-bureau and table are laid spotless white 
rugs made from the fleece of Cotswold sheep. The 
toilet articles are of blue and white and the curtains 
of sprigged muslin are tied back with broad blue rib- 
bons. A small table has a scarf cover of dark blue 
felt, w.th a band of lighter blue finished by a shaded 
fringe. Several clear glass vases of graceful form, 
and two pictures — one of Sir Joshua's Strawberry 
Girl and the other a landscape of Euysdael — on sil- 
vered- wire easels, stand on the manteJ -shelf, and 
show clearly against a broad band of blue that is 
made by covering a very thin two-foot board with 
dark blue canton flannel. 

In winter, curtains of canton of the sanje shade of 



WITHIN DOORS. 39 

blue, and double faced, take the place of tlie white 
summer ones, and another rug, in blue and brown, 
is laid before the fire, and the chairs, which are of 
willow, have cushions added of blue wool goods. But 
before the daughter of the average farmer begins to 
think of adornments for her rooom, she must usually 
set her wits to work to know how comforts and even 
necessities can be obtained. First of all there must 
be a bedstead, a dressing-table, or bureau, and a 
washstand. Happy, is she who with a full purse can 
buy just such a set, of oiled and carved walnut, as 
she wants. But hapi)y too is she who with a more 
limited purse is still able to contrive that which will 
serve as well. It is true a bedstead cannot be made 
^y her own hands, but the dressing table may be, as 
well as the washstand. 

If possible, let the bedstead be of the modern kind, 
tolerably low, and so that the covers can be neatly 
tucked in. Let it be spread up smoothly — let the 
sheets be smooth and white, the blankets fresh and 
clean, and the comfort soft — of figured print, or of 
dark blue orjpink cambric. Over all the covers comes 
the white spread and then a comfortable bolster and 
two square pillows. But oh, let there be no ruffles, 
no tucks and no shams ! Let the bed be neat, well 
aired and unpretentious. It is for comfort and rest, 
and not for show. 

If one have a bureau, all that is needed to fit it for 
use is a few toilet articles — mats, a pincushion (and, 
by the way, the present style of resting the pin- 
cushion on an easel of silver wire is convenient as 
well as pretty), a fancy bag to catch scraps and a 
good comb and brush, etc. But if one have no bureau, 
the sensible way is to make one of the old-fashioned 



40 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

duchess dressing-tables by covering a suitable sized 
store-box with paper-muslin, of the desired color and 
shade, and to put over it a full curtain of plain or 
dotted Swiss. A large looking-glass should be hung 
above it, and a veil of the Swiss, fastened at the top 
with a large ribbon bow, fall gracefully at each side to 
the floor. When complete, there is no other dress- 
ing table so pretty and so suitable for a country bed- 
room. The washstand can be made in the same 
manner, and a wash-bov.d and pitcher, soap-dish, 
tooth-brush stand, etc, must be bought for it. Of all 
things let personal neatness be in every way made 
pleasant and easy. Sets of white iron-stone china 
do not cost much and there is a great amount of com- 
fort in them. But if such ab?iolutely cannot be 
afforded, one at least can have a tin basin and 
pitcher, a sponge, fresh towels and a nail and tooth 
brush. 

Curtains for the windows are cheaper, if of ordinary 
materials, than shades, and are certainly more pleas- 
ing. Such a room as this bed-room might have them 
of cheese-cloth — which costs not more than six 
or ten cents a yard — but the}'- must hang in plentiful 
folds. Lonsdale muslin makes the most durable of 
curtains, and if trimmed with bands of cambric 
matching the lining of the dressing table and the 
toilet articles, are very prett3^ A certain room that 
had the woodwork painted a peach-bloom color, and 
the toilet articles and the bands on such muslin cur- 
tains matching it to a shade, looked a little paradise. 

Creton curtains for a bed-room are always beauti- 
ful, provided the design be upon a light ground — as, 
for instance, pink daisies on a white ground, or rose 
buds upon light buff or cream Qolor — ^nd if ottomaijs 



WITHIN DOORS. 41 

and lounges are covered ^Yith the same material the 
room becomes a little bower. 

Chairs for such a room should be light, durable and 
tasteful. A willow chair of graceful form is all three 
in one, and with a knot of ribbon harmonizing with 
the leading color in the room it soon comes into fa- 
miliar relationship with the rest of the furniture. 
Continuing the matter of comfort in a bed-room — and 
comfort here means liealthfulness, mention must be 
made of warmth in winter time The cheeriest way 
is to have an open grate, or stove, where the fire can 
be lighted as often as wanted, but the most labor- 
saving, and that whicli insures a more regular tem- 
perature, is have a large stove — say a base-burner — 
in the hall, and to keep the doors of the various bed- 
rooms open so that the chill will be dispelled. If the 
bed-rooms of all the members of the family are in the 
morning and evening about 58 or 60 degrees Fahren- 
heit, there will be no possible excuse for a w^ant of 
neatness in person or dress. 

The daughter cannot come down to breakfast with 
unbrushed hair and the apology, " It was too fear- 
fully cold ! " And the young men will only have to 
confess, shamefacedly, to laziness if they make their 
appearance minus neck-tie or collar. Another plea 
in behalf of warmth is that the sleeping-rooms them- 
selves can be kept so much more neatly if it is not 
with tingling or aching fingers that the shivering 
housewife makes the beds and sweeps and dusts and 
puts all in order. 

For the sake of the housoAvife, too, there are a few 
little conveniences that should not be neglected in 
any bed- room. Among these are bags or boxes for 
soiled clothes, made as plainly or as fancifully as 



42 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

one may choose, and bags for slippers and shoes. 

The former should stand or hang in the closet, if 
•there be one opening from the room, and the shoe 
bag, made of bed- ticking, or of dantier manufacture, 
may be tacked upon the inner side of the door. 

But enough of up-stairs. Let us descend to the 
dining room. Here the colors should be rich and 
warm, and the furniture substantial looking. If the 
household purse be plump enough to aiFord a polished 
side-board of walnut or oak, on which to display hand- 
some china, well and good, but do not let the display 
be too great — to under-do is better than to over-do. 
If there is no side-board there should be a side-table 
with a colored cover — say of red felt — if that be the 
predominating color of the room — on which plates, 
knives and forks and extra dishes may be kejpt in 
reserve. 

A three-shelved bracket too, in this case, may hang 
upon the wall, and if a lining of dark red, (for we will 
decide upon that as the color for the room) be placed 
behind it, cups of a delicate patern and crystal de- 
canters, "wisely kept for show," will appear to their 
best advantage. A curtain of double-faced canton- 
flannel or one of soft wool goods, through which the 
sunlight casts a glow upon the walls, can be hung 
from poles and rings, or be shirred upon a slender rod 
and this tacked up to the window. The large dining 
table should have a soft canton, of the same color 5 
and when the table is laid for dinner, if it so please 
the house- mother, it may be left under the usual 
white one and will be found to have a very quieting 
effect upon plates, cups and spoons. A stand, having 
two or three shelves, and kept conveniently near the 
dinner-table is useful if plates are to be changed for 



WiTEm DOORS. 43 

dessert. Those used first can he piled, together with 
the vegetable dishes, upon the lower shelves of this 
dumb-waiter, and thus save some member of the 
family leaving the table Of chairs in the dining- 
room it is well to have two a couple of inches liigher 
than the others. These are for the head and foot of 
the table, and enable the host and hostess to perform 
their part of serving with greater ease. Just above 
the dining table, which stands in the m ddle of the 
room, should be suspended a hanging lamp. Let it 
be a good one (for these are the safest) and the hook 
which supports it be firmly screwed into the joist 
aboA^e, and the family will never regret the four or 
five dollars expended for the lamp. There will be 
no more dazzling light thrown into the eyes of per- 
sons who sit at tea, and there will be no more danger 
and uneasiness on account of children gathering 
around. 

In fact, good and s^fe lights are a luxury country 
houses cannot afford to do without. Hanging lamps, 
or the cheaper side-bracket lamps, are good for the 
general lighting of a room, and with them there is no 
danger, from romping little folks; but for reading and 
sewing, the student lamp, perfectly safe, and giving a 
strong, clear light, is by far the best. 

After the dining-room we come to the kitchen, 
which, if neatly and conveniently fitted up, will make 
the tasks to be perfoimed there seem much less bur- 
densome. The floor and woodwork should be oiled, 
or painted in some neutral tint, the walls receiv- 
ing a somewhat lighter tint. Thick shades, of a brown 
or green color, that can be raised or lowered at pleas- 
ure, should be hung at the windows, and, in addition, 
in summer-time, frames covered with wire fitted into 



44 



THE HOME ON THE FAR.1\t. 



the Avindows. The expense of these frames is triflhig 
in comparison to the comfort of having a kitchen free 
from Hies, and yet light and airy. If the wired li-ames 
cannot be bought, a very good substitute is a home- 
made one, covered with dark green mosquito netting. 
Such a Irame, too, can be made for the door, and, 
although it may lack spring hinges, still with careful 
closing it will serve as good a purpose as a wire one. 




One of the greatest labor lighteners in the kitchen is a 
dresser or cooking table. It should be placed within 



WITUIN DOORS. 45 

easy distance of the stove, so that in going back and 
Ibiih all the steps possible ma.y be saved. The cut 
on the preceding page shows one of these dressers. 

No. 1, against the chimney, is a broom and mop 
closet, reaching from the floor to the top. The flat 
top of the table proper is 2 feet 8 inches from the 
floor. At the left is a small closet (No. 2) for kettles, 
and just above this closet a deep drawer (No. 3) for 
bread. The bread knife and slicing board are kept in 
the drawer in order to be at hand. No. 4 is the bread- 
board that has narrow raised sides, front and back, 
and slides in like a drawer. It is deep enough to 
hold the rolling pin when closed ; and when dfawn 
out, by means of the handle, and laid on top of 
the table, is all ready for use. Below is another closet 
for kettles (No. 5) and at the right of this still another 
door (No. 6), which, on being opened, shows the flour 
barrel. In the top of the table, just above the flour 
barrel, is a lid (No. 7), which is opened when flour is 
to be added to that in the barrel, or to be taken out 
for use in cooking. The baking pans hang in the 
closet beside the barrel. The floor of the kitchen 
forms the floor of the table. The flrst shelf is nine 
inches from the level top of the table and is supported 
by two wooden bitickets. This shelf (No. 8) does not 
extend the entire length of the table, but is short 
enough to permit the raising of the lid to the flour 
bin. The upper shelf, or closet (No. 9), however, 
extends the whole length, and its top is a good place 
for lamps, match box, taper stand and cookery books. 
Both of the shelves are closed with doors (a, a, a), 
and pepper, vinegar flasks, spice box, coffee mill, cups, 
knives and the numerous articles that are in constant 
use in a cooking room are kejjt within. 



46 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

Every kitchen should have a sink, but if this is 
utterly impossible, a table cie voted exclusively to the 
washing of dishes may take its place. This table 
should have one or more drawers, in which tea towels, 
soap and mops can be kept. A mop made of twine, 
fastened to a slender and smooth handle, is much 
more tidj^-looking than "ye ancient disli cloth," as 
well as pleasanter to liandle. Another comfort that 
ranks even higher than the mop, is a dish basket. 
This should be of ordinary size and nearly a foot in 
depth ; and the handles, or places for lifting, be woven 
into the ends, so that a tolerably heavy weight can be 
lifted without danger of a crash following, and the 
housewife's soul being thereby vexed. Such a basket 
saves an infinite number of steps in carrying dishes to 
and fro from dining-room to kitchen, and it keeps the 
dishes in close, room -saving, as well as neat shape, if 
they cannot be v>^ashed at once. 

A constant sound of footsteps over the floor becomes 
unpleasant in any work room, and a strip of thick, 
and if possible bright, carpet spread before the dish 
table and dresser will do away with the noise in a 
great measure. 

It will give the room a cozy air, too, which may be 
increased by a little rocking chair cfraAvn up beside 
the window, where a pot of ivy is growing fresh and 
green. 

The tired mistress can often find five minutes of 
rest there, wlien she would not dare to leave the 
kitchen to seek it elsewhere, lest the cookies burn or 
the bread get too much browned. The kitchen plays 
as important a part in the home fe as any other 
room, and a clieery kitchen, where mother in a great 
apron and white cooldng cai) rolled the pastry and 



WITHIN DOORS. 47 

made delicious custards, or roasted the potatoes for 
dinner, will be remembered by the little folks of the 
house more vividly, and be recalled, in after years, 
with almost more pleasure than any other. 

From kitchen to cellar there should be an easy 
descent, and a slender iron rod fastened to the wall, 
to serve as a hand-rail, is a great assistance in maldng 
the usually dark and narrow stairway, such. 

A model cellar was that of a certain old Quaker 
lady. The steps that led down into it were as neatly 
painted and as guiltless of dust as her own neatest of 
kitchens, and the grout floor was equally clean. The 
cellar was cool, and not too moist, for the narrow 
windows were open and a breath from the lately cut 
grass fields stole in. "■ Come this way and I will 
show thee the vegetable room," said the little Quak- 
eress, and we, following, came into a room with rows 
of bins against two sides, partially filled with the 
autumn harvest, while swinging shelves were laden 
with long-necked, succulent squashes. 

We came next to the fruit cellar, and here in sep- 
arate bins and boxes lay the apples— Russets, Genitans 
or spicy Winesaps. In this room were also two cup- 
boards, or closets, made by nailing strips of wood 
upon the frame and leaving narrow, open spaces 
between. This aiforded sufficient air, and yet made 
the cupboard dark enough to keep well the canned 
and preserved fruits that were stored there. 

Such a cellar, of course, is that of a house where a 
large amount of provisions must be stored, but a much 
smaller one can be arranged on the same ph^n, by 
dividing it into two or three compartments, so that 
butter, milk or lard need not be forced intj too close 
neighborhood with fruits and vegetable o. In every 



48 THE Ho:,rE on the farm. 

cellar there ought to be a safe — home m ami fact ii red, 
if none other can be had. A square frame of wood, 
covered with a close wire netting, and having on two 
opposite sides wire covered doors, that close securely, 
is perhaps the most convenient. It looks, when 
closed, like a square wire box, and is an excellent 
place to keex) cooked meats and vegetables. 

On this account the safe should never stand neai 
the milk or butter ; if there is but one room they 
should be placed as far apart as possible. The smaller 
a cellar, the more useful a swinging shelf, which can 
easily be made by any farmer if he has a sharp saw, 
a good hammer, boards and patience. After he has 
succeeded in this he will feel encouraged to put uj) 
two or three shelves, one above the other, against the 
wall — a good i)lace to put the apples that are to be 
used first, or to lay the Hubbard squashes and sugar 
pumpkins. 

Excepting as an economy of space, there is no actual 
need of a swinging shelf in a good cellar, for in a gt)od 
cellar there is no necessity of defending one's self 
against rats or mice. A grout floor and, in summer- 
time, wire frames in the wmdows, insure safety. 
Besides keeping out vermin and darax)ness, a solid 
floor is an aid toward cleanliness, which of all things 
is to be desired in a cellar. Let there be air and light, 
and every spring give a coat of whitewash on the 
walls, and have a constant care to keep everything 
neat — never allowing decayed vegetables or fruits to 
remain. 

If in a small house there is a good cellar, and in 
the kitchen such a table as above described, a pantry 
is not actuall}^ necessary. But in many resjDects a 
pantry is a great convenience, especially where pro- 



WITHIN DOORS. 49 

visions are bought in large quantities, as is usual in a 
country house. But ii" one does not have both the 
table and the cellar, a pantry is indeed a necessity. 

Drawers divided into compartments are more con- 
venient than bins for holding sugars, coffee, rice, 
hominy and so on, and the drawers will occupy less 
space Above the drawers should be shelves, and 
here one sees already, in imagination, the turkey, 
ready dressed for roasting, a long array of pumpkin 
and mince pies, spiced pickles, canned fruits and pre- 
serves — for there is a promise that Thanksgiving shall 
be celebrated in the new farm-house in the good cld- 
fashioned way. 

But, perhaps, the proportion of farm houses is large 
where means to carry out even the foregoing sugges- 
tions are wanting. However, if the home be poor? 
poverty need not lessen the relinement, and neatness 
may be everywhere — the panes of a small window can 
shine as clearly as those of a larger one, and a pot of 
pansies smile as cheerily from the sill as though in a 
conservatory. Perhaps the house is a very old one 
and is built of logs and roofed with clapboards. There 
is a best room and, opening from it, a small bed- 
room ; back of both is a lean-to kitchen built of 
boards, and above that portion of the house built of 
logs is a loft, to which a narrow corkscrew stairway 
leads. 

The mistress of such a house wants it to look pretty 
and inviting, but how can this be accomplished with- 
out the aid of many magic dollars ? She cannot afford 
a carpet, but the floors of the best room, bed room 
and kitchen are all neatly painted a fawn color. And 
she makes two large rugs for the front room by cut- 
tju.?, bright bits of woolen goods into narrow bias 



50 THE HOIME ON THE FARM. 

pieces and drawing the variously colored strips in 
loops through the meshes of a coffee sack that has 
previously been stretched upon a quilting frame. This 
takes some time and patience, but the result is a 
really durable, as well as a very pretty, mottled rug. 
There is a table in the room, and she is guilty of a 
little extravagance in spending a dollar and a half for 
a yard of dark, olive green felt for a cover, but she is 
economical in lining the cover with the remains of a 
much worn woolen dress. A lamp, always kept filled, 
and shining with neatness, the latest newspaper and 
two or three books, find their places on the table, and 
a little splint rocking chair is drawn temptingly near. 
The two windows of the best room and the single one 
of the bed room have long been her pride. It is true, 
they are curtained with nothing more than ordinary 
muslin, but she has been wise enough not to ruflle 
them, but to make a plain hem instead, and to have 
them long enough to hang almost from ceiling to 
floor, and to loop them back with white bands. They 
are always laundried without starch, and so fall in 
soft, white folds that sway in and out with the light 
breeze, and now catch, now lose, the shadow of the 
rose leaves that cluster about the windows. 

There is a lounge between the windows of the front 
room. It is made of rough boards, like a broad, low 
box, having a lid on hinges. The lid is stuffed ani 
then covered Avith Turkey red calico, and thus forms 
the seat. The side and ends of the box are hidden by 
a wide puff, or curtain, of the same goods, and a back 
to lean against is made by a board, of the same length 
as the box, being stufied or covered with the red, and 
then carefully screwed to the back of the now really 
pretty lounge. A round pillow is made for each ena 



WITHIN DOORS. 51 

by covering; two narrow feather pillows with Turkey 
red and gathering the ends with strong thread and 
hiding the gathers by large, black buttons or rosettes. 
The pillows are, of course, as long as the couch is 
wide. As time goes l>y, a few more comforts and 
luxuries will find their way into this living room ; 
there will be an easy cliair, and there will be a few 
books, and, perhaps, two or three pictures. Good 
pictures, too, they must be, something that the family 
in the cottage will not soon weary of. And if they do 
not know what is best, and will wear longest, why not 
go frankly to some one who, they are sure, does know, 
and asking, it will be answered to them more abund- 
antly than they expect. 

The tiny bed-room has but two or three pieces of 
furniture. A bedstead has cost no more than four 
dollars, yet it is neat and white, and always smoothly 
made up. A small square stand, or table, has a white 
muslin cover with a fringe around the edge, and on 
it are kept the bowl and pitcher, soap dish, and tooth 
brush stand. The pitcher is filled with fresh water 
every morning, and towels, in use, are hung upon a 
rack fastened again*t the wall near by, while asui)p]y 
of fresh ones are in the table drawer. Above the 
stand hangs a small, square looldng-glass, and to the 
right of this is a wooden bracket, or shelf, where are 
kept a hand-glass, a comb and brush and a lamp, 
ready for lighting, if the toilet articles are required at 
any time after dark. 

Two seats for the room are made by fastening lids 
on soap boxes (procured from a groceiy), with com- 
mon hinges, and then cushioning the tops and cover- 
ing the boxes, cushions and all, with Turkey red. 
The lids, on being lifted, show the space within to be 



52 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

neatly lined with newspaper. One of these ottomans 
thus serves to hold soiled clothes, and the other is a 
most convenient shoe box. A wardrobe, or clothes 
press, is made by putting four shelves across one cor- 
ner of the room. The lower shelf is about four feet 
from the floor, and under it are several hooks which 
serve to hang dresses upon. Over the front of the 
whole is hung a full curtain of the Turkey red, 
trimmed with a six hich band, at top and bottom, of 
black Avoolen goods, fastened on with briar stitch in 
red cotton thread. The loft is furnished in much the 
same way, excepting that the curtain to the ward- 
robe, and covers of the ottomans, are of fawn colored 
cotton damask, with borders of blue cambric stitched 
on, and when these are soiled their place is taken by 
covers of flowered print of a pretty pattern. Instead 
of a bedstead (on account of the lowness of the roof at 
the sides) folding army cots are used. A mattress 
made by tacking two worn cotton comforters together 
and covering with bed-ticking, or unbleached muslin, 
knotted with bright worsted, is needed to make one 
of these cots comfortable in v/inter-time, but in sum- 
mer even this is unnecessary. Dining room there is 
none, to this small house, but in winter-time dinner 
and tea are served in the front room, while breakfast 
is eaten in the cheery kitchen. In summer-time, 
when the weather will permit, all three meals are 
spread out of doors on a stationary table that is made 
of rough boards laid upon a criss-cross trestle. The 
table is placed under a rustic arbor, which is overrun 
with wild grape vine, and when spread with a red 
cover and set for tea, or breakfast, is certa-nly very 
inviting, as well as picturesque looking. iJo not say 
this is a fancy picture, for it is not. We ourselves 



WITHIN DOORS. 53 

have sat under this grape vine, and have drank coffee, 
and eaten honey and white biiiscuit at this table. 

Of course, every varying condition of the farmer's 
income, and the circumstances that surround him, 
will influence the arrangement of his home ; but 
neatness, cleanliness and refinement may be had. 
The manner and management of the Iiome will afford 
an indication of the character of the mmates, and in 
return the mental and moral characteristics of the 
inmates will be influenced by the character of the 
home. 



HOMESICK FOR THE COUHTRY. 

I'd kind o' like to liave a cot, 
Fixed on some sunny slope, or spot; 
Five acres more or less 
With maples, cedars, cherry trees. 
And poplars "whitening in the breeze. 

'Twoiild suit my taste, I guess, 

To have the porch with vines o'erhung. 

With bells of pendant woodbine swung; 

In every bell a bee ; 

And round my latticed vrindow spread 

A clump of roses, -white and red. 

To solace mine and me, 

I kind o' tlnnk I should desire 

To hear around the lawn a choir 

Of wood-birds, singing sweet; 

And in a dell I'd. have a brook 

Where I might sit and lead my book. 

Such should be my retreat; 

Far from the city's crowd and noise. 

There would I rear the girls and boys, 

(I have some two or three). 

And if kind Jieaven would bless my store 

With five, or six, or seven more, 

How happy I would be. 

Anonymous. 



CfiAPTER IV 



AROUND THE HOUSE. 



The inflnence exerted by men, upon each other by 
their intercourse, is a fact few would question. 

That every man creates an atmosphere about him- 
self that is a power for good or evil, is also true. 

But perhaps the influence of Sxlent things is not 
so evident to every one; nor the atmosphere they 
create, as often recognized, and j'et these, too, are real 
and powerful. 

And he who wishes to make life as true and beau- 
tiful as he can, with the means at his command, will 
find in nature a large source from which to draw, and 
this store-house will furnish material to create about 
his home an atmosphere that will be educating and 
refining. 

The mind is naturally employed with the things 
seen day after day, and a yard which is disfigured 
with weeds, dead leaves, decaying fruit and discarded 
tinware, through winter and summer, cannot suggest 
pleasant thoughts and will not be a source of refine- 
ment. 

The yard should be one of the sources of education 
in the home, and by its beauty rest and refresh the 
miud. The labor necessary to secure this, will not 



56 THE HOME ON THE FAKM. 

make the pleasure less, but more, addin"; to other re- 
turns for the work honest pride, that riglit of ever}'^ 
successful worker. 

Whatever the size, shape, or peculiarities of any 
yard, one thing is necessary for all, and without it, 
little progress toward beauty or comfort can be made. 

This ifoimdation for all the rest is order and clean- 
liness. Let the work of cleaning and putting in 
order be once thoroughly done, and the improvement 
will be in itself an inspiration to keep it so. A yard 
already full of trash attracts more, and an orderly 
one invites every member of the household to main- 
tain the order. 

The most neglected yard can be put in order if the 
work is begun with a determination to succeed. 

Perhaps the best point to begin the attack, is the 
wood pile, as this must be the place to put all 
scattered boards, sticks and rails. 

The pile should be straightened and the chips around 
it raked up ; then the wood gathered from the yard 
will not be moved from one place of disorder to an- 
other, but will be in place. 

All scattered tools, or pieces of broken ones, should 
be put away. Barrels and boxes, if whole, put in 
some place of safety ; if unlit for use, put on the 
wood pile. 

Broken fences, gates and trellises should be mended, 
and, if the cleaning is done early in the spring, rose 
bushes and vines should be trimmed, edges of walks 
straiglitened and the whole 3'ard raked and the rak- 
ings burned. 

This work ought to be as faithfully done in the 
back 3^nrd as in the front, and to keep the kitchen 
doorway looking well, no sweepings from the house 



AROUXD THE HOUSE. 57 

should be left there, but,taken up in a dust pan and 
burned. 

When the dandelions, plantains and other weeds 
begin to show, they should be cut out, and if the grass 
cannot be kept short, but is left until tall, and cut for 
hay, it will be less unsightly if free from weeds, 
though close cut grass is much the prettiest, and more 
easily kept free from weeds. 

When spring comes again, recalling the work of 
the year before and the satisfaction it gave, an im- 
p.ulse to renew the work will set in motion plans for 
greater inprovements. 

The first cleaning having been kept up through the 
summer and winter, will have made that work much 
lighter, and, with more time, something more can be 
attempted ; a new arrangement of walks, tlower beds, 
or fences may be needed, and in doing this, beauty 
and convenience will be the aim. Each yard wiL 
need a plan of its own, though the same materials 
will be useful for all, 

AVhat is the idea that has been given shape in the 
front yard ? Why are not houses built with the front 
doors opening on to the highway? Back of the cus- 
tom of leaving a space between the house and -the 
road there must be some reasons great enough to ac- 
count lor the fact. What are they ? 

Seclusion from dust, noise and the intrusions inci- 
dent to nearness to a traveled way must have .been 
strong reasons, and the security of an exclusive right 
to the doorway would be felt as another. For these 
reasons the houses were set back from the road. 

Then the question naturally suggested itself, How 
shall this strip of ground be used ? 

Some settled it by making it a continuation of the 



58 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

barn yard and allowinfj; hogs, cattle, horses, geese, 
ducks and cliickens to take possession of it ; others, 
more thrifty, grew potatoes, cabbages, onions and 
other vegetables for the table on this plot of 
ground. 

But the farmers' wives, lacking the absorbing pleas- 
ure of gaining and handling money, planning to add 
more acres to the farm, build new barns, buy cattle, 
horses and machinery, felt instead a longing for some- 
thing to brighten and beautify the days, and the first 
result was a row of broken crocks or old cans filled 
with flowers and standing on the window sill or on a 
bench. This attempt to beautify the yard was con- 
fined to such places because of wandering hogs or 
calves. But the idea grew that beauty is worth striv- 
ing for— one of the blessings at our very doors that 
we may have and welcome. 

And such people as the " Miss Asphyxia Smith," 
Mrs. Stowe describes, who toss a child's wild flower 
treasures into the fire as trash, and think all time 
wasted that is spent in such enjoyment, became 
fewer. Man like Dr. Holland taught that simple 
pleasures should be heartily enjoyed, and that it is 
the privilege of ever}^ one to have a play-time without 
a thought of W'^rk or a shadow of care, or duty, to 
mar it, and the idea of a pleasure ground came into 
the form of the yard. 

A large extent of grass where children could romp 
without running into flower beds or breaking plants, 
and giving room for games for older people grew from 
this idea; and included a good sod, as cleaner than 
bare earth, and short-cut grass that dried soon after 
heavy dews or showers, and did not trip running feet 
in a tangle of weeds. Around the houses of many 



AnOUND THE HOUSE. 59 

farmers to-day there are yards that embody these 
ideas of use, beauty and enjoyment. 

Studying the details of such yards we find trees, 
shrubs, vines, flowers and grass are the materials 
combined to produce the atmosphere that surrounds 
these homes. 

To tliose who are laying out new yards or remodel- 
ing old ones, the selection of trees, shrubs, flowers 
and vines is interesting and important, and their ar- 
rangement after selectmg them, no less so. In plant- 
ing trees, the fact that they will grow for years must 
be remembered and room for growth allowed them. 
Unless they are intended only for temporary shade 
until other trees are large enough to take their places, 
they should not be planted less than thirty feet from 
the house. The most suitable tree to give shade for a 
lifetime is the elm ; it has been called the American 
tree and the emblem of our liberty; under its branches 
some of the stirring deeds of our early history were 
set in motion. It is a tree that will bear any wind 
less than a hurricane and grows in symmetrical shapes. 
The hard maple and the ash are suitable shade trees, 
tough of fibre, neat and compact in growth and hav- 
ing one merit the elm lacks — beautiful autumn foliage 
— and if planted near each other the scarlet of the 
maple is a fine contrast for the yellow ash. 

Soft maples make a rapid growth and are suitable 
for temporary shade, but break too easily in a strong 
wind to be suitable for a permanent shade. 

A group of pine trees on the north or west of the 
house will give a sense of comfort and protection in 
winter; and a resinous fragrance when putting on 
new growth in summer that will at least partly off- 
set the annoyance caused by the constantly falling 



60 THE HOME ON THE FARBL 

cones. The lower branches should be trimmed to al- 
low the sun and rahi to reach the ground below, or 
the grass will die, leaving a bare, unsightly spot 
under each tree. Tiie Scotch pine and the Norway 
spruce are two of our best evergreens. The larch is 
an ornamental tree, having ihe needle-like foliage oi 
evergreens, but shedding its leaves in the fall. 

Having planted enough trees to shade the house, 
others, and a greater variety can be planted from 
year to year at a greater distance, always keeping in 
view the final effect. Young trees will respond to 
generous treatment as readily as corn or any farm crop, 
and will show neglect or careless planting as much. 

If a newly planted tree is to grow rapidly it must 
be transplanted with as little breaking of roots as 
possible, put in good, well mellowed soil and for 
three or four years given culture and care ; a very 
good plan is to make a flower bed around the young 
tree, until it begins to shade the ground; the flowers 
will not suffer and the tree will be much the gainer. 
A tree in the center of a bed made rich enough for 
pansies will grow marvelously fast, and is a source of 
pleasure even when small, because of its thrifty ap- 
pearance. If a flower bed is not wanted, a space of 
ground around the tree should be kept mellow and 
free from grass or weeds. 

Shrubs may be left out of many small yards to 
their advantage, as they take up room that should be 
given to grass. In larger yards a i'ew can be planted 
with good efl'ect. A group of native shrubs including 
Dog- wood, Service berry and Red-bud could be effect- 
ively arranged and blooming at the same time would 
make a contrast in color and shape of flowers that 
would be very pretty. 



AROUND THE HOUSE. 6l 

For growing a variety of shrubs a large bed where 
they can be cultivated is best. The plants should be 
set far enough apart to admit of hoeing between them, 
or they will become a harbor for weeds from which 
their seeds will spread over the whole yard. The ar- 
rangement of tire shrubs must be according to their 
growth ^ the taller ones in the center and others 
around them, or what is more, after the pattern Nature 
sety, the tallest shrubs at one side with varying sizes 
through the bed. A few hardy rose bushes in such a 
bed can%e trimmed or allowed to grow any size that 
is wanted. Among low-growing shrubs the Deutzia 
is one of the prettiest, the Holly is evergreen and 
shrubby. Japonica grows four to six feet high and 
among the taller shrubs are the Smoke Tree, Barberry 
and Syringa. 

All these have showy flowers, except the Holly ; its 
little yellow flowers are surpassed in beauty by the 
foliage of the shrub. 

The Barberry is valued for its red berries that suc- 
ceed the very fragrant yellow blossoms, and hang on 
all winter. Almost every one has some favorite 
among shrubs, and a list of all that are of value would 
include many not mentioned here. The error to be 
avoided with most care, is putting too many shrubs 
in a small space. 

More vines may be planted, for the presence of 
a vine presupposes something larger than the vine on 
which it is to climb, and climbers assume graceful 
forms so naturally, it is not easy to rob them of their 
beauty as long as they are thrifty. They will richly 
repay for the care in cultivating and training them. 
A house where every doorway is shaded has not too 
many vines.^ 



62 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

Climbing roses, Clematis vines, Five-leaved Ivy 
and grape vines over the doors will protect the house 
from heat and give a variety of beauty and fragrance 
from early spring. The many tender vines that do 
not bear our winters can be used with these with good 
effect. 

The woodshed can be covered with vines and 
posts well set will support roses, honeysuckles^ 
or annual climbers and show their beauties to good 
advantage. An old stump with enough irregularities 
to have a gnarled beauty of its own, covered with 
vines, and if hollow, having some good foliage plant 
or showy bloomer planted in the top, will be a real 
ornament. 

Avery pretty| arrangement of vines can be made 
by stretching a wire between two trees high enough 
to be above a tall man's head, and training on this 
hardy vines. 

The Clematis is one of the best, as it rarely shows 
any dead branches and the feathery seed pods are 
beatiful long after the blossoms are past. 

The Five-leaved Ivy grows rapidly and will need 
little care after it is well started. If planted to climb 
the trunk of a large tree it will soon cover the trunk 
and in autumn hang out a torch of fire in every leaf. 

The flower beds, if there is room for any in the 
yard, should be at the side of the house or bordering, 
but not crowding the walk. These beds should not 
contain too many varieties, and the flowers ought to 
harmonize in color. A scarlet salvia growing beside 
a red chrysanthemum destroys all pleasure in the 
beauty of either, when if they were jjlanted in differ- 
ent beds each would show its own merits, or if one of 
the flowers was white the contrast would be pleasant. 



AROUND [the house. 63 

Every tree, shrub and flower in the yard should 
have plenty of room ; enough so each may develop to 
its natural size and enough to allow the sun and rain 
to reach its roots. With space enough, too, between 
trees, shrubs and flower beds to give each an individ- 
uality. 

Many very pretty front yards are ornamented only 
with large trees, vines and close cut grass. The side 
yard may have a few floAver beds, or these may all be 
in the back yard. Where if they are not so showy 
when in the higlit of their bloom, neither do they 
show much th^ir dead and dying leaves as fall ap- 
proaches, or in a dry season. 

A flower bed near the kitchen windows will be en- 
joyed more by the housekeepers, than if they must 
wait until the work is done and they have leisure to 
sit where the flowers of the front yard can be seen, 
lor too often then they will be too tired to enjoy their 
beauty and so the mission of the bright blossoms for 
them fails. 

An outlook from the kitchen, as the churning is 
being done, the dishes washed, or the bread moulded, 
that shows a clean yard and thrifty, growing pansies, 
verbenas, or portulaccas, will make the work seem 
lighter, and though the influence is unnoticed, it will 
giv^e something of the grace of the flowers to those 
who enjoy them. 

In a large yard arbors and rustic seats look well if 
they are kept in repair, but usually are not sources of 
as much comfort as they are intended to give. An 
arbor if well shaded will be damp after rains when the 
yard is dry ; and the grass will not grow where the 
ground is so shaded ; depriving the arbor of the best 
carpeting nature makes. Eustic seats being left out 



64 THE fiOJfE ON THE FARM. 

doors in all weather, unless nnusually well made, 
soon become dilapidated and are often, even in their 
best days, very uncomfortable seats. 

If an arbor does not fulfill its purpose as a pleasant 
shaded place to sit, and if rustic seats fail to be com- 
fortable, something that will fulfill these purposes 
had better be substituted. 

A pleasant grassy place on the shady side of the 
house under a tree may serve for an arbor, and com- 
fortable chairs from the house and a hammock make 
restful seats. Vines might be trained on tlie west and 
south of such a place to add to the shade; these 
would allow the morning sun to dry the ground, and 
shine on the grass to keep it growing, and would 
give shade and shelter in t!ie afternoon and 
evening. 

Trunks.of trees, large stones and stumps in the yard 
are sometimes white-washed or painted; unless this is 
necessary to kill the larvae of insects it should not be 
done, or even in that case some colorless wash might 
be applied, and the white-wash and paint avoided al- 
together. The natural coloring of the tree trunks and 
stones forms part of the quiet beauty of nature ; cov- 
ering them with white-wash or paint destroys their 
beauty, giving an element that does not harmonize 
withihe surrounding colors. If it is necessary in or- 
der to preserve them to paint stumps, urns or flower 
pots, the color should be neutral and show as little 
as possible. 

The chief beauty of a yard and that on which all 
the adorning depends is well kept grass. A good sod 
must be secured in order to have good grass, and the 
even growth of the grass will depend much on the 
grade being good ; if there are depressions that hold 



AROUND THE HOUSE. 65 

water after a rain tlie grass will grow rank there, or 
if wet too long will be killed out. 

In grading a new yard or regrading an old one, there 
is a choice in the time of doing the work; if the house 
is unoccupied it can be done in the fall, but if occu- 
pied spring will be the best time, as a muddy jard 
through the winter will be avoided. If graded in 
March or April a good growth of grass will cover the 
ground before mid-summer. The slope of the grade 
must be enough to cnrry off all surplus water after 
rains, but near the house the fall should be almost 
imperceptible, about six or eight inches in fifty feet. 

The yard must be plowed and made evenly sloping 
from the house. Where it is necessary to fill depres- 
sions, the ground must be allowed to settle after the 
fill is made, for a week or ten days when it will be ready 
to fill again ; where a rise has been cut down leaving 
subsoil on the surface a dressing of good soil must be 
given i-o that the grass may grow on these spots. A 
dressing of fine manure or bone meal on the whole 
yard will be of benefit. 

When a perfect grade has been secured the surface 
should be well pulverized, the grass seed sown and 
covered lightly. The best mixture of seed to sow 
will be blue grass, timothy and oats in the propor- 
tion of two bushels of blue grass, one-half bushel of 
timothy and two bushels of oats to the acre. 

The oats will cover the ground in a few weeks and 
protect the young grass. As soon as tall enough the 
grass should be cut and as often through the summer 
as the growth will permit. In this way a good lawn 
can be made in one season and it will last a lifelime 
if the work is done with care and thoroughness. To 
preserve it year after year, frequent mowing and an 



6Q TfiE HOME ON THE FARM. 

occasional application of bone meal or well-fined 
manure will be necessary, and if weeds gain a foothold 
they should be cutout with a hoe or knife. 

All this may be done for beauty and comfort, but if 
the yard lacks conveniences it will be sadly incom- 
plete ; wood and water should be near the kitchen 
door. 

The woodshed may open into the kitchen, and if 
kept filled with good wood and a supply of kind- 
lings, will lighten the work of the kitchen and im- 
prove its quality. A poor fire is the cause of much 
sour bread, tough steak, heavy cake, poorly ironed 
clothes and many cross faces. The stove itself wears 
out faster when the draughts are choked with the 
ashes of rotten wood. 

A pump in the kitchen will save much time, and 
if so arranged as to avoid slopping the floor it is one of 
those homely luxuries, that by adding to the comfort 
of every day do so much toward making living a 
pleasant thing. If the cistern cannot be under the 
kitchen it should be] near the door, and sheltered, if 
only with a shed of rough boards, so that going for 
water will not mean exposure to the hot sun of mid- 
summer, the rains of all seasons and the cold and 
snow of winter. . 

Both cistern and well should be carefully guarded 
from impurities. A cistern both bricked and cement- 
ed will admitnothing through its walls and with a 
tight fitting cover nothing need find its way into the 
cistern but pure water. In some sections cement alone 
will be enough to make the cistern secure from the 
water in the ground. 

A good spring is often considered a great advantage 
on a farm. Often it is, in fact, a great drawback. We 



AtlOUND THE HOtJSE. 6t 

have often seen houses put in a most inconvenient 
place, just because " the spring was there," and on 
some farms, even of well-to-do farmers, no well or 
cistern is provided, because there is a spring within a 
few rods of the house. And through summer's heat 
and Avinter's cold, the farmer's family must go down 
the hill to the spring and back up the hill carrying a 
load, for all the water that is used. It is wretched 
economy. Let good, pure water be so abundant and 
convenient that it can be liberally — even lavishly 
used. 

The walks about a house will tell much of the thrift 
or unthrift of its occupants; if well made and well 
kept they will tell well for the inmates of the house, 
but if overgrown with weeds in summer and muddy 
in winter they will tell of something lacking in the 
household. It may sometimes be health and strength, 
but if so, when these return the walks will take on 
a new aspect. The front walk can often be ar- 
ranged to add to the beauty of the yard by giving it 
a winding approach, or if there is a drive-way at the 
side ot the yard, a walk directly from that to the 
front of the house will save in the lengtli to be cared 
for and give a good effect. 

A walk near to nature's pattern is the most suitable 
and one made of gravel or stone is as near like a nat- 
ural path as can be made to fulfill the needs of a con- 
stantly used walk, but brick, plank or tanbark are 
often easier to obtain and make a dry, clean path. 
The fence around a yard should be neat and incon- 
spicuous. In some of the newer States the yards are 
not fenced, but in Ohio fences still surround the yard 
with but few exceptions. 

Very neat iron fences are supplanting boards to 



6S THE HOIME ON THE FARM, 

some extent and are strong and durable. A hedge 
fence riglitJy grown and cared for is very pretty, but 
if left untrimmed for weeks at a time it is only a 
source of annoyance. 

It will be better not to attempt a hedge than to 
have one and neglect it, for it soon grows up and 
shuts out the view, and gives the yard a gloomy, as 
well as an untidy appearance. Whatever the fence 
may be, it should be kept neat and in order. Broken 
boards or loose pickets should be repaired at once. A 
few minutes will repair a break when first made, but 
if the matter is left for some time, it ripens into a big 
job. 

Strongly made and well-hung gates will complete 
the boundary line and we may step outside and look 
at the yard complete, and note where it has fallen 
short of the ideal, and where it has surpassed the 
original plan. 

In all endeavors to mnke the surroundings of 
the house beautiful, it should be remembered that 
the objects are, refinement, comfort, and healthy 
pleasure. 

Some of our ideas of what is of value and really 
worth working for are but little better than those of 
a colored woman, who owned and exhibited with 
pride three silk dresses, but she lacked wholesome 
food and comfortable clothes, and died of consump- 
tion ; cared for by charitable neighbors during her 
sickness. 

The dresses were good in themselves, but no one 
will question the tolly of preferring them to the neces- 
saries of life, and a yard adorned with all the beau- 
ties of trees, flowes, and shrubs is only a mockery if 
the household lacks the beauties of truth, purity and 



AROUND THE HOUSE. 69 

loving-kindness. The outward beauty should sym- 
bolize the beauties that are unseen but powerfully 
felt. The trees should tell of strength and protection, 
the grass of vigorous, healthy every day life, and the 
flowers and shrubs should speak of all the sunny 
gladness and all the joys of happy home life. 



FLOWERS. 

Spake full well in language quaint and olden 
One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine, 

When he called the flowers so blue and golden 
Stars that in Earth's firmament do shine. 

Stars they are wherein we read our histories, 

As astrologers and seers of eld, 
Yet not wrapped about with awful mystery 

Like the burning stars which they beheld. 

Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous, 
God has written in those stars above. 

But not less in the bright flowerets under us 
Stands the revelation of His love. 

Bright and glorious is that revelation, 

Written all over this great world of ours. 

Making evident our own creation 

In these stars of earth, these golden flower*. 

Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining, 
Blossoms flaunting in the light of day; 

Tremulous leaves with soft and silver lining. 
Buds that open only to decay. 

In all places then, and in all seasons 

Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, 
Teaching us by most persuasive reasons 

IIow akin they are to human things. . 

And witli childlike, credulous affection 
We behold their tender buds expand ; 

Emblems of our own great resurrection. 
Emblems of the bri<fht and better land. 



-Louf^ellow. 



CHAPTER V. 



FLOWERS FOR THE HOME. 



Many who grow flowers and enjoy them carry 
always the burden of this unrest, that the time spent 
in the enjoyment of flowers is selfishly spent, and the 
time given to their care is wasted. But in the woods 
and fields we find flowers and vines, beautifying the 
long, sunny days, covering decaying logs, old fences 
and heaps of brush. And if this beauty is intended 
for us, we ought to recognize the gift by gladly using 
and appreciating it. 

The pleasure a single plant will give in return for 
care is something only those can understand who 
have watched a plant from the day tlie seed sent up 
its first leaves through the soil, cracked above the 
stirring life below, to the days when it budded and 
bloomed. 

Let this pleasure be multiplied by watching the 
growth of a hundred plants and let their beauty be- 
come a part of the everyday life, and insensibly they 
will refine and make brighter the lives of those who 
love them. 

Healthy natures feel the need of play ; when the 
day of romping games are over, the intinct of play 
remains, but is turned into new channels, and many 



72 THE HOME ON THE FAR51. 

find the flower-garden a pleasant play ground, wlien 
dolls and kites have lost their charms. 

Constant, wholesome variety is necessary to keep 
lite pure and healthful. All nature seems busy sup- 
plying this need of change during the summer and 
each day has its own individuality, but in winter the 
changes are not so marked, and the days grow weari- 
some to those who lack the health that delights in 
wrintry, out-door weather. 

Plants can supply much of the missed charm of 
summer even though they do not bloom ; the green 
leaves will be a source of delight to eyes weary of 
snow and ice. 

But plants will bloom all winter if placed in a 
warm, sunny room and given proper care. 

A vine trained gracefully on the wall or a basket 
filled with thrifty plants and hung in the window 
will give the plainest room a charm that no other 
ornament can exactly supply. 

Longfellow's lines, written of children, seem to be- 
long to the flowers as well as to the children. He 
writes : 

"Ye are better than all the ballads 
That ever were sung or said, 
For ye are living poems 

And all the rest are dead." 

The flowers truly are living poems to those who feel 
their beauty. 

In selecting flowers for the yard and house, an al- 
most endless variety of native and naturalized plants 
are offered us, and there are jjlants suited to almost 
any situation. 

In Ohio our woods ofTer some beautiful flowers and 
if these were the only ones, the yard need not lack 



FLOWERS FOR THE HOME. 73 

beauty and ornamentation, there are shrubs, vines, 
creepers, annuals, perrennials and bulbs in profu- 
sion. 

These will grow in the yard and scarcely miss their 
native haunts if given shade and soil similar to that 
from which they are taken. Our delicate leaved 
ferns grow luxuriantly planted on the north side of a 
building ; plenty of rich soil from the woods must be 
provided for ferns or plants when they are moved. 

Our earliest wild llower is Harbinger of Spring or 
Pepper and Salt as we call it ; closely following it 
comes the Liver-leaf, Wood Anemone, (^elendine 
Poppy, Spring Beauty, Phlox Divaricata, Greek Va- 
lerian or Blue Bell, as it is called with us, and the 
blue and yellow violets. The white Stone crop must 
not be forgotten, for it gives a mass of white flowers 
for bouquets after the Pepper and Salt fails for that 
use. All these need the early spring sunshine but 
should be shaded during the summer after their sea- 
son of bloom is over. 

Among small trees and slirubs we have a number 
that are showy and will bear transplanting. The 
Black and Red Haw, Wild Crab, Shad Bush or Ser- 
vice Berry, Red Bud, Maple-leaved Arrow -wood, 
Dog-wood and Black Thorn brigliten the woods 
through May. 

During June the Sweet Briar and Wild Rose lend 
us their beautiful shades of pink and their wild-wood 
fragrance and the common Elder and Wild Hydran- 
gia give creamy white and greenish white flowers. 
Among the lower growing plants of May and June 
are some of rare beauty. The AVild Hyacinth bears 
a delicatly tinted spike of blooms, and the dwarf 
Spider-wort gives a deep intense blue with yellow 



74 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

anthers borne on blue feathery filaments in the centre 
of the flower, and Hairy Water leaf gives an abund- 
ance of bluish flowers, carpeting the woods in their 
native haunts. 

Through July and August the vines are in the height 
of theirgrowth, and they climb over leaning trees, and 
hang over the banks of streams making shady re- 
treats and ornamented nooks, where the sunlight is 
changed to pale purple and the quiet of mid-summer 
reigns undisturbed. 

These natural arbors might, with care and patience, 
be reproduced and the pleasure they can give brought 
near home. 

With fall come the Asters and Golden Rods and 
the tall, white Eupatorium, needing less shade and 
thriving in harder soils. During the whole season 
there are beside these flowers many blossoming plants 
that creep into the yard or grow by the roadside with 
out care or culture. 

Among cultivated flowers so many of real merit 
and rare beauty stand waiting for recognition that it 
is difficult to choose among them, though circum- 
stances always do much to determine the choice for 
yard or house. 

Among the easiest of culture are half hardy annu- 
als, if some spot is filled with wild flowers that will 
open the first warm days of early spring, and annuals 
are started early, to bloom when the wild flowers are 
past, the whole season may be brightened by their 
blossoms, and for those who cannot keep plants 
through the winter the flowerless days can thus be 
shortened. Seeds of annuals can be started in a sun- 
ny window as early, often, as February. To secure 
a thriftv growth the soil must be suited to the needs 



FLOWERS FOR THE HOME. 75 

of the the young seedlings. Many grow plants in 
common clay soil, and seem to enjoy them, but the 
growth is spindling, and when compared with that of 
plants started under the right condition seems poor 
and mean. 

A soil that gives thorough drainage is very impor- 
tant, pure sand is largely used for starting cuttings, 
but for seeds a rich soil composed of leaf mold or 
earth enriched by decayed logs, mixed with sand, and 
garden soil is the best. It should be mixed in pro- 
portions that will make a clean dry soil, that will not 
pack when wet. 

For further drainage, coarse gravel or bits of broken 
(lower pots must be placed in the bottom of the box 
or pot in which the seeds are to be started. 

In such a box seeds will grow readily with proper 
care, and plants can be started, and will be ready 
to transplant to the yard, as early as the weather will 
permit. For a succession of flowers, seeds can be 
sown in the open ground at the time the first plants 
are set out. 

Many varieties, sowed the first of May will give 
three or four months of bloom before frost. When 
seeds are sown in the garden, the ground must be 
well pulverized, the seeds covered lightly and the 
ground kept free from weeds. If the plants are thrifty, 
their shade will smother the weeds after they reach 
full growth. In caring for llower beds we find there 
is a magic hour after rains when the ground almost 
hoes itself, and is as fine and clean as meal, while if 
hoed too soon it makes the ground cloddy, and if too 
late it is often hard. The same is true in making the 
beds ; in our garden the past season our bed was 
thrown up while the ground was still wet, after a rain, 



td THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

and all summer we contended with stubborn clods, 
while in the beds around it the ground was mellow 
and fine. 

There is a fascination in learning all these things, 
while the ilowers are growing, and when the right 
conditions are secured and the plants grow to their 
largest size and are covered all summer with a pro- 
fusion of Ilowers, the reward is very pleasant. 

Among Ilowers of real value and easy culture are 
Verbenas with their great variety of colors and shades, 
and their delicate, exquisite perfume ; Phlox in hun- 
dreds of shades, stripes and combinations of colors ; 
Petunias, rich and velvety ; Sweet Alyssum, white 
and profuse in bloom, covering the ground; Blue 
Ageratum ; Antirrhinum, in rich colors and odd mark- 
ings, and Salvia Splendens, a brilliant scarlet. Shaded 
beds, if enriched, offer the right conditions for the 
finest Pansies, Forget-me-nots and Daisies,' and for 
the Swan River Daisy, a little floral treasure brought 
from Australia. The annual climbers include vines 
of beautiful flower and leaf. The Cypress with soft 
foliage and scarlet and white flower, ssaucy, black 
eyed Thunbergia in yellows and whites with dark 
throats; Baloon Vine, Maurandya, and the common 
but beautiful Morning Glory, and Sweet Peas, not so 
ambitious in climbing, but beautiful and fragrant. 

If monthly roses are excepted, we may say roses 
are easy of culture, and no yard is complete lacking 
these flowers. The Baltimore Bell is a beautiful 
climbing rose, hardy and blossoming profusely. 

Among Hybrid Perpetual roses. Gen. Jaqueminot 
is one of the finest, the roses being a velvety crimson 
scarlet in color, and large and beautiful in size and 
shape. 



FLOWERS FOR. THE HOME. 77 

The fragrant Honeysuckles are justly favorite 
climbers, making a dense covering for porches or ar- 
bors, and filling the air with the perfume of their 
flowers. 

Those who are situated so they can keep plants 
through the winter will find the Geranium one of the 
most beautiful and interesting among free blooming 
plants, their variety is so great. Geraniums alone 
would give blossoms in almost every color excepting 
blue and yellow. Being easily grown, able to bear 
moderate cold, and much neglect, they are found in 
almost all flower gardens. 

A fine variety of colors can be otained by growing 
them from seed, and both blossoms and plants will 
often be larger and more thrifty than those produced 
by cuttings. 

The seed must be sown in March to insure blossoms 
before cold weather in the fall. Some of the seed- 
lings usually give inferior flowers, but many are 
very large and fine, in delicate tints and brilliant 
scarlets. 

Any house having^a warm cellar will keep Gerani- 
ums over winter, as they can be saved, if taken up 
without breaking the roots, shaken free from earth, 
and hung top down in a dark corner of the cellar. 
The leaves will die but the stems will remain green, 
and when set out in the spring will come out in full 
leaf as the trees do. Small, tender plants will not live 
in this way, but well matured Geraniums can be hung 
np year after year, and will increase in size until six 
feet high if there is room to store them without trim- 
ming the tops. 

Growing from bulbs we have a variety of beautiful, 
hardy flowering plants. Some of the earliest to open 



78 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

in the spring belong to this class. These, if intended 
for out door blooming, do well planted in August or 
September in a well drained, sheltered sunny bed, if 
the bulbs are well surrounded with sand or planted 
in sandy soil, their growth will be surer, as the sand 
being dry and warm will prevent danger of rotting. 
A bed can be filled with bulbs that will give a suc- 
cession and a large variety of flowers. Jonquils, Hy- 
acinths, Tulips, and Lilies, the early and late varie- 
ties of the Hyacinths and Tulips and hardy Lilies. 
Lilium Lancifolium Rubrum, red and white in color 
and very fragrant. Lilium Candidum, the common 
white Lily ; and less stately but with more luxuriant 
foliage and delicate flowers, the day Lily. The Lily 
of the Valley needs a more shaded situation and gives 
such sweet, pure racemes of little white bells that too 
many cannot be grown in any yard. Gladiolus, al- 
though unable to bear the winter, are out door plants 
and bear spikes of flowers in the most delicate tints 
and the richest colors ; the bulbs are planted in the 
spring and must be taken up and kept in a dry place 
where the frost cannot reach them through the 
winter. 

Perennials are easily grown, and give their blossoms 
in return for very little care. There are very pretty 
Perennial Phloxes, pure white and delicately shaded 
pink with darker centers; Perennial Peas in the same 
colors, bloom in large clusters, and when dewy have 
a faint fragrance. 

Canterbury Bells in white and blue, equal the lily 
in purity of colors. Columbines claim some of the 
deepest blues and prettiest pinks for their curiously 
shaped bells, beside a variety of other colors and 
shades. That the yard may have blossoms until the 



FLO^^^ERS FOB THE HOME. 7% 

ground freezes, Clirysanthemiims must be planted 
and they are not the least beautiful bloomers, although 
the last. They give large and small blossoms, pure 
white, clear yellow, orange yellow, pale tinted flow- 
ers, deep rich red, and crimson, blooms in profuse 
clusters, every plant doing its best to make us forget 
our loss of the spring and summer flowers, in the 
pleasure of watching their hardy buds open under the 
November sun. 

"When winter has taken even these; holly leaves 
and sprays of perriwinkle or myrtle as we call it, can 
be used with rose berries, or barberries, to brighten 
the house ; branches of cedar and pine can be used 
too, and will relieve the rooms of some of the bare 
look of winter. 

A sunny window in a warm room will make flow- 
ers a possibility, but if mercury goes below freezing 
in tbe room when the nights are cold, it will only be 
annoying and disappointing to attempt to keep plants 
in the winter, but if the room is warm enough, win- 
dow plants will be the source of much pleasure. 
Among the annuals are some flowers suitable for 
house culture Verbenas and Petunias ma}^ be trained 
on a trellis and will cover it with vigorous foliage and 
a profusion of bloom. Salvia Splendens and Agera- 
tum will grow and bloom in the winter, and Thunber- 
gias and Oobea vines can be trained over the win- 
dow. 

Geraniums Avith their thrifty odorous leaves and 
many clusters of flowers make one of the best window 
plants we have. Calla lilies if kept well supplied 
with hot water in a dish around the pots will unroll 
their leaves and flowers, giving the charm of stately 
grace to the window garden. The English Ivy will 



80 THE HOME ON THE FAKM. 

bear much exposure to cold and often is the only 
plant of a window-full that survives a cold winter. 
It is beautiful and can be trained around pictures, 
over the window or on the wall ; wherever it is placed 
it will be graceful and beautiful ; rivaling it in beauty 
but filling a difterent place is the Smilax vine with 
its delicate shining leaves, arid neat habit of growth. 
Smilax may be started from the seed and though slow 
to germinate and slow in its first growth, it climbs fas 
ter when fairJy started on some support, a wire or 
twine, and repays for the waiting by its beauty and 
vigor. The vine blossoms in small fragrant floAvers. 

Hyacinths and Tulips started in the fall will bloom 
during the winter. A wire basket lined with moss 
and planted with drooping and climbing plants, such 
as Wandering Jew, Water Ivy, Oxalis, and Kenil- 
wortli Ivy with perhaps a Geranium, Coleus, or 
Fuchsia, for an upright central plant, will add much 
to the beauty of the window, if hung above the pot 
plants. Whatever the plants are, their arrangement 
will add much to the etfect, and here as in the j^ard 
the plants should not be crowded, unless the plan is 
to mass them. 

The plants will both show and grow the best if they 
do not touch eacli other, though when the foilage is 
spreading this rule must often be disregarded to some 
extent. By arranging the lower plants about the tall- 
er ones the pots can touch, and the foilage conflict 
but little. All dead leaves should be removed, and 
some plants will need trimming and pinching back 
to keep them m good shape ; the pots and shelves 
should be kept clean. A window full of thrifty plants 
usually suggests a neat, clean room, for when dust 
and disorder take possession, the plants lose their 



FLOWERS FOR THE IIO:\rE. 81 

vigor, and sharing the general neglect, wither and die. 

Plants may be kept growing through the winter in 
a pit, and will be ready for early blooming in the 
spring, or if the winter is mild will blossom under the 
sunshine of Februr.ry and March. A pit is an exca- 
vation roofed with glass, either adjoining the cellar 
and opening into it, or simply a hole dug where there 
will be drainage enough to keep it dry ; boarded up 
inside, fitted with shelves, and banked up on the out 
side. 

A pit dug three feet below the surface of the ground 
and banked up three feet on the north side, and only 
one on the south, will give the sash a slope that will 
admit the sunlight to every ijart of the pit, and carry 
off the rain or melting snow. The length and width 
will be made to correspond with the sash used ; two, 
three or four sash would determine the length, and 
the width can be a little greater than the width of sash ; 
a board a foot wide will answer as well as glass for 
roofing at the upper side. 

Being three feet below the surface of the ground 
and three above on the north side, any one can stand 
erect under the sash, unless their height exceeds six 
feet. Here Geraniums, monthly roses, Pansies, 
Daisies, Verbenas and Forget-me-nots, can be safely 
carried through even severe winters, and if the pit is 
well made it may prove frost-proof even in the coldest 
weather, and the more delicate plants such as Coleus, 
Begonias, Fuchsias, Callas and Heliotropes, be en- 
trusted to its care. 

A covering of some sort will be necessary at night, 
a matting can be made of bunches of rye straw laid 
side by side and firmly tied together, in the centre 
and at each end with strong twine ; each bunch is tied 



82 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

firmly into a close bundle, then the next tied close 
beside it with the same string ; or old carpet will serve 
for a covering, if weighted down with boards when 
the weather is windy. 

When mercury drops down to ten and twenty be- 
low zero, extra protection will be needed, and a 
lighted lamp or a bucket of coals may be placed in- 
side to keep the temperature above the danger point. 

The plants for window or pit should be well started 
before cold weather; cuttingsof Geraniums, Fuchsias, 
Heliotropes and roses can be taken at any time their 
growth will permit during the summer, and these 
will be ready for early blooming the next summer. 
Their growth will not be checked when moved to the 
house, as the roots will not be disturbed if they have 
been started in pots. Plants, taken up late in the fall, 
are slow in starting to grow again, and often make no 
growth until spring, when kept in a pit. 

Plants, intended for winter blooming, should not 
be set in the ground, but kept growing in pots 
through the summer and allowed to rest from bloom 
ing by pinching off all buds during the fall. 

After the window or pit is filled, there will be much 
to learn, but if the plants have regular judicious care 
the result will be enough success, at least, to counter 
balance the failures. 

One fine plant, safely wintered, will sometimes re- 
pay the care given to a dozen others that failed to 
live, and suggest the thought that the plant feels that 
it must give flowers for all the others as well as for 
the care bestowed upon itself. 

To succeed with plants in winter, warmth and sun 
light must be secured, and each pot given good soil 
and drainage and enough moisture. To water plants, 



FLOWERS FOR THE HOME. 83 

just enough, just when they need it, no more, 
and no oftener, is part of the secret of success ; differ- 
ent plants require different care, some needing water 
daily, and others, being too wet if watered half as 
often. 

The soil in the pots will indicate the time for water 
ing ; when the surface begins to look dry they need 
water, but not before that, after the surface is dry the 
earth will be moist in the pot below, if it is not 
packed and hard ; when watered the ground should be 
soaked thoroughly, then left until beginning to dry 
again. In a warm room evaporation will be rapid, 
and most plants will need watering once a day, but 
in the pit once a week for many plants will be 
enough ; if kept too damp a mold will attack the stems 
and cut them off near the surface of the soil. Tepid 
rain water is the best for watering plants, giving it a 
temperature equal to, or, a little above that of a 
warm summer rain, and they will send up the odor of 
spring showers, and seem unconscious of the winter 
without. 

If the plants get frozen, and they sometimes will 
in a sudden cold snap, many of them may still be 
saved if thawed under the right conditions. 

Move them to a cool, dark part of the cellar, or 
darken the pit, and water them thoroughly in cold 
water, or set- the pots in a tub of cold water, being 
careful to avoid handling the leaves ; treated in this 
way the frost will come out of the plants slowly, and 
they will revive. 

AVhere there is a sunny room, perfectly secure from 
frost, many rare and lovely flowers can be success- 
fully grown. 

Some of the finest I have ever seen, were grown in 



84 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

a Avarm, well lighted dining room, here Fuchsias, sup- 
ported on frames, grew eight feet high and bore 
hundreds of flowers. Campanulas bore flower stalks 
covered with blooms two feet of their length. Tube- 
roses and lillies filled the room with fragrance, rare 
vines covered the w^alls, and roses clustered among 
their own thrifty green leaves. 

Many wdio possess flowers in garden and house fail 
to use and enjoy them as they might, rarely making 
them into bouquets, or doing so with an utter disre- 
gard for harmony of colors or graceful arrangement 
of forms. 

To enjoy a flower garden as much as possible, the 
house should have two or three vases in every room 
that is used, and here the prettiest flowers can be en- 
joyed while household tasks are performed. A dish 
or vase on the dinner table may be devoted to flow- 
ers, and the latest opening flowers and the finest clus- 
ters of blossoms can be enjoyed by all the household 
together. 

For large bouquets plenty of white and green is 
important, soft masses of white and delicately cut 
leaves are prettiest. Large or stiif leaves and stately 
waxy wdiite flowers themselves needing the soft and 
delicate flower and leaf for neighbors in large bou- 
quets. 

Many flowers harmonize best with the green of 
their own foliage, but some lack suitable leaves for 
bouquets. The early wild flowers furnish material 
for many i^retty bouquets ; a shallow dish will show 
many of them to better advantage than a vase. 

Delicate wild Dicentra leaves, the soft white um- 
bells of Pepper and Salt make a background for 
white and deep blue Liverleaf and the i>ink spring 



^LOWERS FOR THE HOME. 85 

beauties ; the whole having a charm as long as the 
flowers keep bright. A fragrant bouquet, and as del- 
icate as sea shells, can be made with only wild Crab 
blossoms and lillies of the valley ; the shell like pink 
of the crab blossoms and the pure white of the lillies 
make an exquisite contrast. A tumbler filled with 
fresh white clover blossoms suprised me by their 
beauty into asking what they were. Sweet Allysum 
and rosy pink geranium blossoms make a beautiful 
small bouquet. Sweet scented geranium leaves. 
Fuchsias, Heliotrope and rose buds make an exquis- 
ite com])ination. 

When all the old fashioned roses. Garden Heliotrope 
and Deutzia are in bloom their blossoms can be ar- 
ranged together, and the yellow rose buds, creamy, 
half blown white roses and graceful Deutzia bells sur- 
rounded by the fragrant Garden Heliotrope, make a 
pale, delicate bouquet, suitable for a place on an 
ebonized shelf or near dark walls. Bouquets may 
contain a large variety of flowers, if care is taken to 
select harmonizing tints and colors, and to separate 
blossoms that might conflict in color, by placing be- 
tween them something that harmonizes with both. 

A bouquet may contain blue, pink, red, and yel- 
low, if an abundance of white is used. Some of our 
prettiest bine flowers for cutting are Gillia tri- color, 
and Gillia capitata, Phacelia, Ageratum Eutoca, 
and Columbine ; for white flowers. Clematis Vir- 
giniana gives a soft creamy cluster, the Ferrenial pea 
a pure waxy white, and among Verbenas, Sweet 
Peas, Gillias, Asters, Helichrysums, Geraniums, and 
roses, are found pure white flowers ; pink and purple, 
scarlet and crimson, are abundant among annuals 
and perrenials. 



86 THE HOME ON THE EAllM. 

The prettiest yellows, are foimd among roses and 
pansies, but Antirrhinum and Xeranthemum give 
clear, j-ellow blossoms, and Zinnias thongh stiff, can 
sometimes be used for yellow in bouquets. 

Flowers, for the decoration of platforms or pulpits, 
should be large and pronounced in color, with pure 
white and deep green, for a back ground, and setting; 
Calla lillies and their leaves, spikes of Gladiolus, 
bright Geraniums, Columbines, roses, ani the blos- 
soms of flowering trees and shrubs are suitable. Long 
sprays from flowering vines can be arranged with 
good effect, to droop or twine above such a bouquet. 

Those who delight in gathering flowers, for the 
decoration of the house, will find material for their 
pleasant work in garden, field, and woods. Sprays 
from blackberry vines, clusters of Elder blooms, 
leaves from the rag weed, and the whole plant of the 
caliums or cleavers, will be seized upon and woven 
into graceful combinations, and every season will 
unfold new materials and new ideas for floral decora- 
tion. 

The liberty to give the rarest and sweetest flowers, 
to those who will be gladdened by them, is one of the 
pleasantest possibilities of flower culture. 

Bright flowers sent to sick rooms, or to those who 
love them, but are too busy to grow them ; or thrifty 
plants given to some one beginning the culture of 
flowers ; all these will give as much pleasure as those 
kept to enjoy and share with the household. 

Among plants, whose foliage is their beauty, are 
Ferns, Coleus, Begonias, the Rubber plant, the Cen- 
tury plant, and curious growing cactus plants, these, 
as well as others, can be used very eflectually for 
decoration, but in ornamenting a room with plants, 



FLOWERS FOR THE HOSIE. 87 

care should be taken to place them where they will 
not take room needed by something else, or annoy 
any one with constant fears for their safety. 

Plants may be taken from the pit during mild 
weather and used to ornament parlor or sitting room, 
and returned for safety when mercury sinks. 

Watching their growth and blossoming, seeing how 
much neglect they will survive, how they will grow 
in hard, poor soil, and how generously they will re- 
spond to better conditions, we may learn many 
lessons for our own lives ; and from the beauty and 
fragrance of the flowers with which the earth is ad- 
vanced, learn something of the work of the Master 
builder, who is preparing for us, mansions above. 



TRUE GREATNESS. 

Not he alone is great 
Whose voice commands where battles rage and roar, 
Nor lie who guides the counsels of a State 

Safe through the storms of war. 

Not by the work you do, 
Nor by the number who can speak your name, 
Can you establish greatness real or true, 

Or prove your right to fame. 

Great are the ones who give 
To humblest work, the best of heart and brain ; 
Who not for self, but for their loved ones live. 

Shall crowns immortal gain. 



CHAPTER yi. 



HOUSE KEEPING. 



In studying housekeeping as a subject, it should 
always be borne in mind that housekeeping is not 
an end to be attained, but a means toward an end, 
that of home making. The difference between the 
two is great, although at the first thought one may 
consider them identical. To realize how great this 
difference is, let a person spend a few weeks in a 
crowded hotel where all the work is thoroughly done, 
where the table is fastidiously set and every thing that 
money can buy is provided, then let him go to his 
own home, wiiere is liberty and friendly interest and 
welcome not gauged by the depth of the pocket- 
book. 

Wherein lies the difference ? In one, the good 
house keeping is simply a means for making money, 
in the other it is (or should be) the means by which 
those dwelling in the same house become more 
" kindly affectioned one towards another." Let us 
keep this, the highest standard of housekeeping, al- 
ways before us. 

THE WORKERS AND THE WORKED FOR. 

In the farm house the worker is pre-eminently the 



90 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

mother. Ah a bride she takes up the work of house- 
keeping, as years go by her work increases, her cares 
double, the demands upon her time multiply ; it is 
her life-work from which there can be only a tem- 
porary release and never an entire freedom from care. 
She works for husband and children, and their health 
and happiness are due to her skill, patience and in- 
dustry, and a failure to do her part well, may be the 
cause of irreparable mischief But while she is the 
greatest, let it never be supposed that she is the only 
worker. Father and children are in various ways 
helpers, and while they are helping her she is work- 
ing for them, and she is also working for herself; a 
fact which many grumblers about the slavery of 
housework seem to forget. So, except in the care of 
very young children, invalids or aged people, the 
workers are those for whom the work is done. 

In view of the fact that the mother is the most im- 
portant worker in the house, it is but justice that the 
work should be arranged in such a manner as to be 
most convenient for her to do. In machinery great 
care is taken that there is no friction on the propel- 
ling power; the shaft of the water-wheel and the pis- 
ton rod are kept well oiled, for any false bearing here 
deranges the whole machinery. Equall}'^ as good care 
should be taken that the housework does not vex, 
fret or annoy the mother, for any friction here is sure 
to jar through all the revolving wheels of the family 
circle. 

One of the things necessary to insure easy work is 
that tlie mother's will must be the law of the house- 
hold. Whatever work is done must be done at such 
a time and in such a manner as she shall decide. 
This may sound arbitrary and to many may smack 



HOUSE KEEPING. 91 

of woman-riglitsism, but to all fair-minded people it 
is only plain common sense, and the only way by 
which the work can be done without jar or annoy- 
ance to the diflerent members of the family. For in- 
stance, the family prefer, so she has always made salt- 
rising bread. Some other worker, perhaps a hired 
girl, refuses to make salt-rising and makes yeast 
bread to the annoyance of the whole family. 

This does not prevent the mother from trying new, 
in the hopes of finding out better ways, for all our im- 
provement are at first new things, but having tried 
various ways and orders of work, and having decided 
which is, in her case, the best, both for herself and 
her family, the mother should be allowed to pursue 
her own course undisturbed by others. 

But as the motlier's will is to be the law of the 
househeld, it is necessary that her will should be ex- 
ercised with good sense, intelligence and kindness. 
If she says a thing should be done at a certain time, 
when it is apparent to every member of the family 
that it is not the best time to do it — if, when ordering 
work done, she says any way to get through it, re- 
gardless of the best way ; if she orders the work, 
regardless of the health or convenience of the other 
workers— she makes a great failure ; she fails to 
merit the respect and confidence that rightfully be- 
long to her. 

TUE BEST WAY. 

There is nothing so important to the mother as 
know the best way to do her work, and then be able 
to do it in that way. Perhaps it is expected that I 
shall lay down plans by which any woman can do 



92 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

her work easily, rapidly and pleasantl}^, and save 
time and money. It is impossible. I have seen such 
plans in print, but never saw one successfully carried 
out. There are so many things to be considered in 
making i)lans, and in no two houses are things just 
the same. The size of the house, the number of mem- 
bers in the the family, their health, ages of the 
children, care of aged people, amount of money that 
can be used in housekeeping, number of hired 
helpers, are all subjects to be thought of in planning 
work. So it follows that no one set of plans can suit 
everybody, but each woman must make her plans to 
suit her circumstances. 

THE MONEY QUESTION. 

The amount of money that can be used in house- 
keeping is one of the first questions to be settled. 
Nine-tenths of all the articles written on household 
matters condemn miserliness in the house as the 
greatest of all sinning, and to read these articles one 
would call us a nation of misers. This is far from 
being the fact. American extravagance is proverbial 
and where one family is injured bj'- parsimony, ten 
ar.e harmed by extravagant liberality. It is so pleas- 
ant to have our houses w^ell furnished, the chairs and 
tables substantial as well as pretty, the carpets and 
curtains of good material and in good taste, an organ 
or a piano and an abundance of good books and pic- 
tures in the rooms, the table well set with silver and 
china, and no thought of saving in the butcher's and 
grocer's bills. All these things help to make home 
attractive, and the tendency of the times is to con- 
demn every person who goes without them simply 



ttOtfSE KEEPING. 9o 

because they want to save the money which such 
things cost But all these things do cost money ; and 
many a young couple on beginning housekeeping, 
rather than face this condemnation have furnished 
their houses well and burdened themselves with debt 
and cares for years. Public opinion, on the subject 
of housekeeping, is all in favor of extravagance, so it 
becomes very easy for a family to live beyond their 
means ; but it requires a good deal of moral courage 
to live strictly within their means. Before deciding 
on what to buj'-, find out how much there is to buy 
with. If there is money enough to buy a range, cost- 
ing from $50 to $100, buy it ; but if there is not, 
there are stoves costing from $12 to $15 that will 
cook just as good dinners. If there is money to buy 
solid silver spoons and forks, get them ; but if there 
is not, plated will do just as well. But let no house- 
keeper be ashamed of her cheap stove or spoons; 
rather let her be ashamed of running in debt when 
she cannot see how the debts are to be paid. It is no 
disgrace to dress and live plainly, but it is a disgrace 
to run through all the property one has, and then 
cheat your creditors out of all you can borrow. 

So economy becomes one of the first things to be 
considered in ordering housework. Now, what is 
economy ? It certainly does not consist in buying the 
poorest material that can be bought simply because 
it costs the least money. Economy is getting the 
greatest benefit from the amount of money expended, 
be it much or little. If one table-cloth costing three 
dollars will last longer than three costing one dollar 
each, it is economy to buy the three dollar cloth. If 
one gingham dress costing 124 cents a yard will wear 
as long as two calicos costing 8 cents a yard, it is 



u 



THE HOJEE ON THE FARM. 



cheaper to buy the gingham. The best — that which 
will wear the longest — is always cheapest. 

There is an extravagance of time as well as money. 
It is not economy for a woman who does her own 
work to spend three or four hours in preparing some 
choice dish that will be consumed in a few moments. 
Neither is it economy to prepare a dish and have it 
so poor that it cannot be eaten, in which case, both 
the materials used and the time employed in making 
it are lost. It is not economy to spend days over 
the ironing table, ironing elaborately-made garments, 
when an hour over plainl3^-made clothes will do just 
as well. It is not economy to spend hours every 
morning in sweeping and dusting every room in the 
house, whether they are occupied or not. Neither is 
it economy to allow them go so long uncared for that 
it doubles the work. Wastefulness is always the 
very worst kind of extravagance, either of time or 
money. 

It is not economy to attempt to do housework 
without conveniences to do it with. When a woman 
attempts to do a large washing with only one tub and 
a pail, she need not expect to get it out in half a day, 
and the perplexity and vexation caused by working 
with so few conveniences, cost her more than another 
tub or a pounding-barrel would. When a woman ties 
her coffee up in a rag and pounds it with a flat iron on 
the stove-hearth, instead of buying a coffee mill, she 
is not practicing economy, for she wastes more coffee 
in a year than a mill would cost. It is not economy 
to try to do a large ironing with only two flat irons, 
for they must be changed so often that they cannot 
remain on the stove long enough to be well heated, 
unless a larger amount of fuel is used. It takes nearly 



tiOTTSE KEEPING. 95 

twice as much fuel to do an ironing with two flat irons 
as it would to do it with four. 

TIME. 

There are but twenty four hours in a day and night 
and no amount of stretching or crowding can make 
more than that. When a woman finds she has a great 
deal to do, and daylight is too short for her to get 
through it, she is very apt to take part ot the night. 
She gets up at four in the morning and works until 
ten at night, and thinks she is saving time. A greater 
mistake was never made. It is true she may have 
more work done at the end of the first week, possibly 
she may at the end of the second, but after that she 
grows nervous; little things vex her, she wonders 
why she is so petulant when there is apparently no 
cause for it, then she becomes listless and cannot set 
herself to work without an effort ; she is weak and 
goes to the doctor for a tonic, which perhaps will re- 
lieve her because he says she must stop work. So, in 
the end, the two hours which she daily takes from 
sleep, are two hours lost, and she has lost far more 
than that — she has lost her cheerfulness and that con- 
fidence in herself that comes from a nervous system 
in repose. Make it a rule, when hurried with work, 
to take plenty of time to eat and sleep. Nothing is 
ever gained by hurrying through a meal and rushing 
back to hard work. 

Eight hours of the twenty-four should be given to 
sleep, and when a little out of health, more than that. 
Then divide the remaining sixteen in such a way that 
they will cover all the work to be done that day. 
Give four hours to getting breakfast and doing up the 



96 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

work, three to getting dinner and washing the dishes, 
two to getting supper and preparing for breakfast. 
Tliis gives barely seven hours for other work. But 
few housekeepers are satisfied with this division of 
time. It does not give them time enough for the 
work of the day, so to make more time for that, they 
slight many parts of the daily work and clip the time 
for preparing meals as short as possible. The result 
is, the housework is slightly neglected, the table is 
plainly set, but the sewing, knitting and mending, 
rag-carpet making, canning fruit and making bedding 
are well kept up. If, on the other hand, she keeps 
her daily housework uj) to the highest standard, giv- 
ing it all the time necessary, her sewing, knitting, 
visiting, letter- writing, etc., become sadly neglected. 
If she tries to keep her work in all its branches all 
done, and well done, she is met by the twenty-four 
hours in the day, which no amount of hurrying can 
overcome. So, as this limitation is always upon her, 
let her choose which she will do, and not complain 
because one alone cannot do the work that it would 
require two to do thoroughly. 

Perhaps the best choice that a woman can make is 
to do well the things that she is obliged to do, and 
not attempt to do that which cannot be well done. 
She is obliged every day to wash dishes, sweep and 
dust, make beds, set and clear tables, get breakfast, 
dinner and tea ; then there is the weekly washing and 
ironing, the baking, and Saturday's cleaning. It is 
better to do each piece of work thoroughly, than to 
slide through it any how and hurry on to something 
else, only taking care that the surface work — that 
which shows — is decent, and so, at the end of the 
week, be able to boast of the amount of work gone 



HOUSE KEEPING. 97 

over. The annoyance of eating on dislies lialf 
washed, of sleeping in beds just thrown together, of 
wearing clothes dingy, and harsh, and smelling of 
soap, of eating sour bread and drinking sloppy coifee, 
is greater to most peojjle than the satisfaction obtained 
from a great amount of extra work shuffled over. Do 
the little things the best they can be done and then 
be satisfied with your work. 

As the first of the week is universally admitted to 
be the best time for the washing and ironing, we 
will begin accounts of particular kinds of work with 
washing day. 

WASHING AND IRONING. 

The object of washing is to get the clothes clean. If 
persons were to listen to the talk of half a dozen 
housekeepers on washing day afternoon, they might 
doubt this, they would think the only reason why 
washings were done was to see how early the clothes 
could be put out. Of course, it is pleasant to have 
the washing out as soon as possible, but no amount 
of hurrying them on to the clothes line can make uj) 
for half done washing. Because a woman has her 
clothes all on the line at ten o'clock, on Monday 
morning, is no sign she is a good washerwoman. The 
real proof of her skill in washing is when the clothes 
are taken from the line, or when they are taken from 
the closet to be worn. If, when taken from the line 
they are stiff and harsh to the touch, if the bands of 
skirts and underclothes, and the bottoms of white 
shirts are grey because they were not rubbed clean, 
if children's white and light colored dresses and 
aprons are drab in front : "all stained up" is the ex- 



98 THE Home on xHfi farSi. 

cuse; if dark dresses are a shade lighter in'front, 
with every trace of the original pattern gone, same 
excuse ; if the coarse clothes are brown and stiff, the 
dish towels slippery with grease, if the colored clothes 
are streaked, not with the color of the garment, but 
a compound of every color in the wash, if everything 
in the wash smells soapy, the washing is not well 
done, and tiie one who did it should be ashamed to 
boast of getting it out before ten o'clock. To be sure, 
there are housekeepers who do not get their wash- 
ings out before two o'clock in the afternoon, who do 
not do them well, but the chances are they will be 
done as well as if put out two hours after breakfast. 

The first requisite for doing a washing, is plenty of 
soft water and good soap. After trying a good many 
kinds, I am satisfied that there is nothing better for 
all kinds of washing than home-made soft soap. This 
is better the older it is, and if it can stand a year 
without being used, it can then safely be employed 
on the most delicate colors or flannels. Next to this 
is the hard soap, made at home with concentrated 
lye or potash, of which there are many kinds in the 
market. The best of tliese are those put up without 
any rosin or wax, as a laundry soap should contain 
nothing but alkali and grease. Rosin in soap ruins 
flannels by fulling them and making them stiff, it 
also, unless they are carefully rinsed, gives them, and 
all clothes washed with it — a strong, soapy smell that 
is disagreeable to most people. 

To do washings easily, as well as thoroughly, al- 
ways soak the clothes over night. If the washing 
must be done on Monday, when the work is done up 
Sunday morning get a tub of w'arm suds, and as fast 
as the clothes are changed, gather them up and put 



Mouse kEEPmG. &9 

tlieni in it, putting the dirtiest at the bottom of tlie 
tub. Be sure there is water enough to cover them 
well, and no further care is required until the next 
morning. 

On Monday morning put on the wash boiler before 
breakfast, so as to have plenty of hot water to begin 
with. As soon as you can after breakfast, put enough 
hot water into the tub of clothes to make it comfor- 
table for the hands, put on the wringer, and giving 
them a little rubbing wring them out. Then get a 
tub of clean, warm water, and rub the clothes clean. 
This will not be so very hard after soaking over 
night, but clean them thoroughly. Do not leave any 
streaks or spots of dirt, thinking they will boil out ; 
clean the coarse clothes as thoroughly as the fine 
ones. If there is anything that will not rub out, 
soap it before putting it in to boil. Do not put too 
many clothes in the boiler at once, only enough so 
they can be worked easily in the water, for it is the 
motion of the boiling suds through the clothes that 
cleans them. Do not boil more than five to ten 
minutes. When taken from the boiler drain out all 
the suds — dipping them in a basket set over a pail is 
a good way — then rinse them through a tub full of 
clear water, wringing with a wringer, then through 
another tub full of water slightly blued, wring again 
and they are ready for the clothes line. 

Much of the success of the washing depends on 
these two rinsings. If they are thrown into the tub 
in a lump, just covered with water, then tucked into a 
wringer, a corner at a time, and pulled through by the 
motion of the wringer, you need not expect they will 
be white and clean. You have lost your labor, that 
is, if you wash to be clean. They should be 



100 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

soused up and down in the water, shaken out and 
rubbed a litt e, so that the clear water touches every 
part of tlie cloth, then wring dry from each tub. In 
no other way can the soap be all washed out, and if 
not all out, the clothes will become yellow after a 
few washings, and no amount of scrubbing will make 
them white. Before putting them on tlie line, starch 
the collars, shirt bosoms, and whatever needs starch- 
ing. To make the starch, dissolve from a half to a 
teacupful of starch (according to the size of the 
washing) in a little cold water, then pour over it 
boiling water until it is well scalded, and dip the 
clothes in it while it is hot as the hands can bear. 
Many dissolve a lump of tallow in it, or stir in a 
spoonful of kerosene. Rub the starcli in thoroughly 
while hot. 

Now come the colored clothes, which are really 
the horror of washing day. The white clothes can 
be soaked, boiled, or bleached, but nothing of the 
kind will do for colored clothes, and yet they show 
good washing as much as the white. Soap and water 
and elbow grease are all that can be put upon them. 
In the first place do not wet them at all until the 
white clothes are all out, for the longer they are in 
the suds the more they will fade, and by all means 
have a pounding-barrel to put them in first. After 
pounding them well in plenty of water, rub them 
clean and rinse them well in two waters, starch and 
dry them in the shade. If there are any that are in- 
clined to fade, or colors run, put a handful of salt in 
the last rinsing water, or if you have hard water 
rinse in that. 

If one objects to putting the clothes to soak on Sun- 
day, it can be done on Monday to better advantage. 



HOUSE KEEPING. 101 

Put the clothes in the pounding barrel with suds 
enough to cover them, pound well and wring out ; 
then empty the barrel, put the clothes back, the 
whitest at the top, pour over enough strong hot suds 
to cover them and let them stand over night. In the 
morning pound them a little and wring them out. 
The most of them will be ready for boiling, as but 
few of the very dirtiest will need any rubbing. 

There are a great variety of things in the market 
that are warranted to wash clothes clean without 
much labor, but having tried the most of them I am 
satisfied that nothing keeps the clothes so white as 
this method of washing. 

There is no part of housework tliat can be slighted 
with so little annoyance as ironing ; that is, much of 
it need not be done at all, but what is done it pays to 
do beautifully. There is no satisfaction in putting a 
dress on a child that looks as if it just come through 
a clothes wringer, and had had only a glimpse of a 
liatiron after, nor in setting a lable with a table cloth 
as rough as a field after the potatoes are just 
dug. Let all the ironing, where the ironing shows, 
be nicely done, but many of the coarser clothes, 
such as kitchen and dish towels and underwear, 
if smoothly folded from the line, will need but 
the least rubbing with a hot flatiron. Nearly all the 
wrinkles in the clothes are those made by cramming 
them into the basket when taking them from the line, 
£0 avoid these by folding them. Of course, if one has 
plenty of time it is well to iron every piece beauti- 
fully ; but if the ironing is slighted it will not add to 
your work next week. Always sprinkle your clothes 
over night, tpking care not to have them too damp, 
and keep the flatirons as hot as they can be without 



102 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

yellowing the clothes. There is no economy in trying 
to iron with cold flalirons. 

WASHING DISHES. 

"Come, girls ; now see how quick you can wash the 
dishes, " is said to girls ninety- nine out of every hun- 
dred times they wash dishes when beginning to do 
housework. I sometimes think this is one reason 
why they are so slow about it, and why they always 
hate it A better way is to make it such nice work 
that they will like it, or else do it yourself. Instead 
of being dirty work make it clean work ; have a clean 
dish pan, keep the water clean, at least the rinsing 
water, and above all things, have a clean towel to 
wipe them on. The dirtiest of all dirty things is a 
black, stiff, sour, greasy dish cloth to wipe clean 
dishes on. 

First put the glasses in clean, hot water, with a 
very little soap in it, and wipe them dry ; then the 
silver, and cups and saucers ; after this put in more 
soap and wash the remainder of the dishes, rinse them 
in clear, hot water, and wipe them dry. It is some- 
times a great help to drain dishes instead of wiping 
them. A rack set over a sink with the dishes piled 
in it from the suds is a good way, then pour over them 
a tea kettle-full of boiling v\^ater. The disadvantage 
of this way, is that unless they are piled carefully the 
hot water will strike only the outside dishes, the bot- 
toms of the plates and cups, while the inside of the 
dish is just as it came from the suds ; also, the water 
once running overdoes not heat them enough to dry 
them. The best way for draining dishes is to pile 
them all right side up in another dish pan, then fill 



HOUSE KEEPING. 103 

the]'pan with hot water, let them stand a few 
minutes, pick them out and turn them edges up on 
a clean cloth folded in the bottom of a basket or 
wooden bowl. By the time everything else is done 
they will be dry enough to put away. Steel knives 
and forks should be washed and wiped immediately 
after polishing, and all tins and kettles rinsed and 
dried before putting away. The last thing, get a little 
clean, hot water in the dish pan, and rinse the dish 
towels thoroughly, wring and dry out of doors. 

MAKING BEDS. 

There is every morning, in every bed room that 
has been slept in, a large quantity of waste, dead 
matter. It is a well known fact that dead animal 
matter, if some means are not used for its preserva- 
tion, will become putrid and poisonous. It is diffi- 
cult to convince most people that such matter exists 
in bed rooms because they cannot see it, but it is 
there nevertheless ; the air is full of it, the bed clothes 
are saturated with it, and if retained they become pu- 
trid and offensive. This matter is the waste that passes 
off from the pores of the skin and air cells of the lungs 
of every living human being. There are three ways of 
getting rid of it ; fire, water, and fresh air. No house- 
keeper w^ould care about burning all the bed clothes 
from a bed room, say, once a week, neither would she 
care about putting them through the wash as often, so 
it follows that fresh air is the most available means, 
but why, oh ! why is it, that so many housekeepers 
are afraid to use it ? 

Make it a rule to open the bed room windows every 
morning as soon as the rooms are vacated ; then take 



104 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

the bed covers from the bed and put them on a chair 
and sliake up the bed thoroughly. Do not throw 
everything from the bed in one great stack on the 
chair ; the air can never circulate through it, but 
spread them a piece in a place as much as possible 
so that the fresh air can blow over them. By ten or 
eleven o'^^lock they will be aired and the bed can be 
made. If the old-fashioned straw and feather bed is 
used (and rightly taken care of it is as good as any), 
first even the straw, then the feather bed, turning it 
daily ; and always over this put a thin blanket before 
the sheet is put on. Have the under sheet well 
tucked in at the head of the bed, and the upper sheet, 
as well as the blankets, securely turned under at the 
foot. Nothing is more disagreeable than to have your 
feet project through the bed every time they are 
moved on a cold winter's night. 

It is a good plan to, at least once a month, put all 
the bedding on the clothes line one day. Take a 
bright sunny day, with but little wind, and they 
will be as fresh as if just washed. Avoid too much 
heavy bedding, comforts weighing five pounds are 
harder to keep clean than lighter ones. Old worsted 
dresses Avashed and pieced together in strips or large 
pieces and tied, or coarsely quilted with about three 
pounds of batting make excellent bedding. It does 
not pay to piece up minute scraps of calico into bed 
quilts when calico is only seven cents a yard, and 
good spreads and blankets are as cheap as they are 
now. 

SWEEPING, 

Pust is the pest of sweeping. It is too much wprk 



HOUSE KEEPING. 105 

to take up and clean carpets once a month, and if not 
cleaned as often as that they will accumulate a great 
deal of dust, that only awaits the least touch of the 
broom to fly through the air dimming everything it 
touches and irritating sensitive eyes and nose, throat 
and lungs. It is a question which is the most annoy- 
ing, dirty floor or dirty air. Then the work of dust- 
ing is no slight task, especially if there are little arti- 
cles of fancy work about the room, many of which are 
ruined by dust. A carpet sweeper is one of the best 
things for avoiding dust, but there are many places 
that cannot be swept with a sweeper, and many who 
have them give their rooms one good sweeping a day 
with a broom. 

In sweeping with a broom always keep the broom 
damp. Have a pail of water in some convenient 
place, dip the broom in, and shake off all the water ; 
then give it two or three smart raps, making every 
particle of water that will, fly oil'. The dust instead 
of rising in the air will adhere to the broom, and as 
soon as it is so loaded that it will hold no more, dip 
it in the water again. Care must be taken that no 
water will drip from the broom, otherwise the surface 
of the carpet will be covered with a thin coating of 
mud. The trouble with this kind of sweeping is most 
people have the broom too wet. 

Another thing to be remembered is, always take 
the dirt up on a dustpan and burn it up. If the litter 
from the kitchen is swept out at the back door, the 
yard soon becomes strewn with scraps from the 
house, recjuiring extra labor to clean it, or else it is 
tracked back into the house again. 

A large family makes a great deal more sweeping 
than a small one, ibr every time a person enters the 



106 THE HOIVIE ON THE FARM. 

house more or less dirt is brought in. One sweeping 
daily is enough for a small family, while three or 
more will hardly do for a large one. 

A great deal of trouble may be saved to the wom- 
en of the house, and the carpets and furniture kept 
from much injury, if mats are provided at the outer 
doors, and the family are taught to carefully clean 
tlieir shoes before entering the house. A great deal 
of dirt is tracked into houses that might be avoided 
by the provision of mats and the exercise of a little 
care. 

KEEPING FraES. 

Another thing requiring good management is the 
fires. In hot weather it should be a study how to 
have as little fire as possible. Have everything ready 
for breakfast the night before, so that as soon as the 
fire is built it can be put on ; put the dish water over 
before breakfast and have plenty of it. Arrange the 
work so that all the baking, ironing, and other work 
needing a hot fire shall be done in the forenoon, so 
that as soon as dinner is served the fire can go out. 
Then have no more during the day except a very lit- 
tle for making tea. If cold tea is liked by the family 
make it at noon, so there need be no fire at night. If 
the reservoir is filled just before dinner, it will be 
warm enough for washing dishes after supper ; and if 
there is no reservoir a large kettle filled and kept cov- 
ered will keep hot quite as long. 

In winter, the object should be to keep the house 
warm, with the least time spent in building fires. 
For this always use coarse, dry wood, as a large stick 
will keep a fire much longer than a small one, and it 



HOUSE KEEPING. lOt 

takes no longer to put it in the stove. Use dry, well 
seasoned wood, at all times of the yeiir, as it never 
pays to burn green wood. For sheet iron, drum, or 
other heating stoves, large chunks of hard wood are 
the most convenient as well as the most economical. 
An idea has prevailed in some sections that green 
wood is economical. There is no doubt that it is pos 
sible to waste dry wood more rapidly than green, and 
that the family will sometimes do without the fire 
they need rather than struggle with poor green wood, 
but to obtain a given amount of heat, a larger amount 
of greoji wood is required than of dry. In fact, in 
burning green wood, a large part of the wood is 
burned simply to dry the other part. Wood split too 
fine often occasions waste. Some of such wood should 
always be on hand for kindling fires, but for keeping 
ui) a steady heat it is always extravagant. 

irorSE CLKANINd. 

The first thing to be done towards house cleaning, 
is to decide what you want to do ; how many rooms 
need new paint, paper, carpets or curtains. The next 
thing is to luive everything ready to work with before 
the work is begun. Have lime, paint, paper, carpet 
tacks,scrubbing and whitewash brushes, soap and ?and 
ammonia and carbolic acid ready, also copperas, for 
all places that need cleansing, like sink, drains or 
pools. Then secure your help, and be sure you have 
help you can depend on all through. Have as many 
at work at a time as you can v/ork to advantage, and 
do not tear up every room at once. Have three good 
meals every day so that when it is done the next 
thing vvill uot be to go for a doctor. 



108 THE HOME ON THE PAtlM. 

A little ammonia in a basin of water is better for 
cleaning paint than soap ; it also is useful for clean- 
ing combs, brushes, grease spots oif from many kinds 
of clothing, silk, laces, and handkerchiefs ; and a bot 
tie of it should always be kept in the house. For 
cleaning kitchen tables or other unpainted wood, 
(and kitchen tables should never be painted) the best 
way is the old way, soap, sand, hot water and the 
broom. The scrubbing brush does very well for ev- 
ery day, but for quick, thorough work, take sand and 
the broom. Do not sleep in bed rooms until well 
dried, neither put carpets down on damp floors^ Many 
people seem to think that the more water they can 
slop or throw around the cleaner the house will be. 
It is a mistake, all the cleaning the water will do is 
while it is passing over the wood. 

For cleaning varnish take equal parts of linseed 
oil, spirits of turpentine and vinegar, mix well and 
rub with a flannel cloth. Use whiting for polishing 
metals or glass that you do not want to put water 
upon. 

After the house is well cleaned do not shut it up, 
to remain air tight until the next house cleaning 
comes around. Open it every day and let in the 
fresh air and especially the sunshine. It will smell 
musty in a few weeks if kept closed, no matter how 
carefully cleansed. If there are carpets that the sun 
will fade, si^read a few old newspaper-s over them, 
then let tiie purifying sun in. If housekeepers were 
as careful of the health of their families as they are of 
tlieir carpets and curtains, they would have more sun 
shine in their houses, and pay less money for patent 
medicines. 

Sunshine is also one of the best of disinfectants. 



HOUSE KEEPING. 109 

and a house that lias plenty of air and light will 
usually be a clean house. 

HIRED GIRLS. 

I cannot close this chapter on housework without 
saying a few words on the subject of hired girls. I 
know it is a delicate point, one that cannot be dis- 
cussed without meeting prejudices on both sides, but 
it is necessary that there should be a better idea of 
the relations of the two parties than usually exsists 
in a farming community. 

The relation between the hired girl and the woman 
for whom she works is simply a contract. The woman 
agrees to give a certain sum, say .|2.00 for one week's 
work to be done by the girl. There is usually noth 
ing said in the contract about what the work shall be, 
so it must be understood that the work is to be that 
which the woman would herself do if she were doing 
the work. If the girl simply gets the breakfast, din- 
ner and tea, does the daily work, then works for her- 
self the rest of the day, she is failing to fulfill her 
part of the contract as the woman would be were she 
to withhold a part of the stipulated payment. She has 
agreed to give one week's work for her two dollars, 
and must give a full week's time. 

On the other hand the mistress has no right to ex- 
act of the girl other work than that usually done by 
the woman of the house. She has no right to send 
her to the barn to milk when the woman of the house 
never does the milking; she has no right to send her 
out to work in the garden, to gather fruit, or biiiG 
grain, or any other work that is not a part of the or- 
dinary woman's work of the family. Any girl is 



110 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

justified in refusing to do such work ; but when her re- 
fusal would cause the mistress of the house to do it 
herself or remain undone, it becomes her duty to do 
it. The girl has a right to demand her pay as soon 
as her term of work is completed, and if it is refused 
she has a right to require interest on the sum due. 

But beyond the simple strict business understand- 
ing of what may be demanded from a hired girl, and 
what she may demand from her employer, there is 
nothing in the way of a business relation, in which 
there is greater opportunity for the application of the 
golden rule, than in this. If the girl can see that 
you are intent only on getting all the service from her 
that you can for the money ; if she sees that her com- 
fort, her convenience, her happiness are absolutely 
nothing to you ; if she finds that you regard her sim- 
ply as an animated machine for doing housework, her 
nature will be very unlike other human nature, if she 
does not regard you as simply a hard task master and 
consider that her chief concern in life is to see how lit- 
tle she can do without losing her place. 

So much for the business relations ; now for the so- 
ciety. The question is often asked, shall we as far- 
mers' wives receive our girls into our families as 
members of the family ? My answer is, it depends 
entirely on who the girl is. If she is a girl of upright, 
moral principles, if she is intelligent, industrious and 
pleasant to have around the house, patient with the 
children and respectful to all, I say, yes; by all 
means. No family is ever harmed by making such a 
girl one of themselves, and it may be the means of 
recovering to yourself a friend and helper, who shall 
stand by you through sickness and health when all 
other help shall fail, but if on the other hand you 



HOUSE KEEPING. Ill 

detect the slighest trace of loose morality, let her know 
that she cannot be one of you, and the reason why. 
Where there are children in the family too great care 
cannot be taken that the girls employed are of the 
very purest moral character. 

As a closing word I will say, if you expect kind- 
ness and consideration from your girls you must first 
treat them with kindness and consideration, and nine 
times out of every ten you will get it in return. 



All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them. 



CHAPTER VII. 



MANNERS. 



There is an old proverlj which says manners make 
the man ; or, as a German writer puts it, " A man's 
manners, for the most part, marry him, and he, for 
the most part, hiiarries manners.'' We can see the 
truth of this in our every day life, for we form opin- 
ions, perhaps unconsciously, of those we meet by 
their general deportment; and these opinions are 
favorable or unfavorable to the person thus judged 
in proportion as his manners are pleasing or other- 
wise. In business, in social life, at home or abroad, 
the keynote of success and popularity is good man- 
ners. It is but natural that this should be so, for one's 
manners ai'e a truer index of his character than his 
words. Our words are governed by the will, while our 
manners are a part of ourselves and largely involun- 
tary. 

In olden times the members'of a family who boasted 
a coat of arms, were entitled to *■' the grand old name 
of gentleman " or ," lady.'' Nowadays the title de- 
pends on something more than family position, 
wealth or education, for one ma}'' claim all these and 
yet fail of being a gentleman or lady. Wealth con- 
duces to good manners only so far as it is a means of 
obtaining education and culture, which broaden and 



114 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

develop the mind, giving additional strength to the 
character, as well as increasing our capacity for en- 
joyment and tending toward the growth of whatever 
natural refinement we may possess 

One sometimes hears expressed the sentiment if not 
the words : " You must not expect too much of us, 
we are only farmers^ you know ! " as if being farmers 
shut them away from the ways of civilized life ! Be- 
ing a farmer is certainly no excuse for lack of good 
manners, for good manners can be as readily acquired 
on the farm as in the city, and whether rich or poor, 
college bred or home taught, farmers' children not 
only have a right to be ladies and gentlemeit, but 
they owe it to themselves and those about them, to be 
such. 

True politeness is only the outward manifestation 
of the inner life that is " first pure, then peaceable, 
gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy, with- 
out partiality and without hypocrisy." It is a feeling 
of kindliness towards all the world, with a desire to 
please and be pleased. It is alwaysjconsiderate of the 
wishes and feelings of others, charitable toward their 
failings, lenient towards their faults ; " se.eketh not 
her own, is not easily provoked." It is, in a word, ex- 
emplifying in our lives the principle of the Golden 
Rule, and "doing unto others as we would have 
others do unto us." 

Good nature and good sense will teach us the ele- 
ments of politeness, but there are many little delica- 
cies established by custom, which go to make up good 
manners and which can be acquired only by practice. 

Whoever would become mannerly must put what- 
ever knowledge of the rules of good society he pos- 
sesses into active, daily use, and if he lives up to all he 



MANNERS. 115 

knows, he will find that knowledge constantly increas- 
ing. Be always gentlemanly and ladylike at home, 
because no one in the world is so justly entitled to 
courtesy at your hands as the members of your own 
family. There is a further reason in the fact that only 
by so doing can we make our good manners so much 
a part of ourselves that they will become a kind of 
second nature. Be particular about the most trifling 
matter, for the little things are, after all, the most im- 
portant. Many persons seem to have an idea that the 
careful observation of these little points of etiquette 
is a sort of silly affectation by means of which the 
wealthy and fashionable try to raise themselves above 
" common people," and consequently they sneer at 
and reject them. A very slight examination of these 
rules of etiquette will show that even those which 
appear most trifling are founded on common sense, 
and there is some good reason for their use. At any 
rate no one can afford to neglect or ignore any of the 
forms of good manners, or anj^ opportunity of perfect- 
ing himself in their use. Quiet, smooth manners at 
home, will give ease and self-possesion in company, 
and prevent the feeling of constant anxiety, lest the 
next moment you may do or say something awkward 
or ridiculous. 

Greet each member of your family with a pleasant 
" good morning," say it as if you really wished them 
good and not as if it were an unpleasant duty that you 
wish to have over as soon as possible ; and don t for- 
get the " good night" as you separate at the close of 
day. Cultivate a habit of accompanying any request, 
no matter how small, with " if you please," and be 
sure to say " thank you " {not thanks) for every favor 
done for you. Learn to say " excuse me " or " I beg 



116 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

your pardon," without stammering or hesitation. It 
costs nothing to say these things except a little efibrt 
and thought on your part, but it will make a vast 
difference in the feelings of those about you. 

Go about the house quietly ; don't go up and down 
stairs as if you were a whole regiment of cavalry. A 
woman should always go up and down stairs slowly 
and easily from motives of health as well as decorum. 
Don't slam doors, and when you are in search of your 
mother, look for her with your eyes instead of your 
tongue. Don't talk, laugh or sing at the top of your 
voice while in the house ; don't indulge in '•' horse 
laughs " and don't giggle. Anything that is bold or 
coarse, either inmannners or speech, is a violation of 
good manners. Don't worry, either about what you can 
help or what you cannot. There are a thousand little 
annoyances in our everyday life which will keep us in 
state of a constant irritation if we allow ourselves to 
look out for and fret about them, and make us, and 
every one about us, exceedingly uncomfortable. Above 
all things learn to keep your temper. No one can be 
truly a lady or gentleman who has not enough self- 
control to keep tongue and temper within bounds. 
Put away all selfishness, it is even more than the love 
of money "a root of all evil," and should hav« no 
place in any home circle. Think of the interests and 
pleasures of others and not that alone which relates 
to " me." Do not allow yourself to get into awkward 
positions. vSit down squarely in a chair, not on one 
side, or just on the edge as if afraid it will not 
bear your weight. Keep your feet in front of you, 
do not move them uneasily about nor sit with them 
under you. Let your hands, if idle, lie ([uietly in 
your lap, not fussing with a button on your clothes, 



"MANNERS. 117 

nor playing with a watchguard, nor twisting the 
fingers nervously ; it shows too plainly a want of 
self-possession. 

Study the art of talking well. It is a gift which 
few possess naturally, but which may be attained by 
effort and perseverance. A good talker modulates 
his voice so that it will be clear without being un- 
necessarily loud, speaks distinctly, is particular in his 
choice of the simplest words with which to express 
an idea, and has something to say. This last is per- 
haps the hardest to acquire, where one has not the 
natural gift of saying the right thing at the right 
time ; but it can be done, and the earlier one learns 
to think of something to say, the better. Don't mo- 
nopolize a conversation, nor talk about subjects that 
are interesting only to yourself. Learn to talk of 
something higher than neighborhood gossip, and 
don't "lug in the weather by the ears" too often. 
Speak as grammatically as possible ; persons who are 
familiar with all the rules of grammar, often speak 
incorrectly through carelessness. Don't use long and 
high-sounding words, or words from a foreign lan- 
guage, unless you are sure you know their meaning 
and can pronounce them correctly, and that those to 
whom you are speaking, will also understand them. 
Avoid common and inelegant expressions, such as, 
"I ain't got none," "I haven't went," "I would have 
like you to have gone,'' " them molasses," etc. Say 
"I have none,'' " I have not been," ""I would have 
liked to go," " that molassess." Molasses is one 
individual article, and to apply to it a pronoun, mean- 
ing two or more, is plainly wrong. 

Don't allow any coarse or vulgar expressions to pass 
your lips, and don't use slang. Don't say that John 



118 THE HOSfE ON THE FARM. 

Henry is "' all broke up " on Susan Ann, nor that she 
'' has an awful mash " on him. Don't emphasize a 
statement with " and don't you forget it " or " you 
just bet." Such expressions may be very forcible, 
but they are equally low. Never permit yourself to 
repeat anything to the discredit of another, and don't 
discuss private family affairs, much less the personal 
affairs of any one else, with strangers. Do not insist on 
your own views as being right, and be careful not to 
express an opinion or differ with another in such a 
Avay as to give offense or wound the feeling. Neither 
be over-ready yourself to become offended. The per- 
sons who alw^ays seem ready to find cause for offense, 
are generally troubled with an undue appreciation o 
their own ideas, opinions and selves. 

Learn to listen as well as to talk. Give attention 
to what is said to you, and appear interested, even if 
you are not. It is not hypocrisy to do so, and it is 
pure selfishness not to do so. Never interrupt or con- 
tradict one who is speaking, and should you do so 
accidentally, apologize at once. 

It is rude to whisper in company, and also to talk 
or laugh about something the others do not under- 
stand, or in such a way that any one may think he is 
being made an object of ridicule. 

Give especial attention to your table manners, for 
in them particularly, does good breeding, or the lack 
of it, manifest itself. There are many nice points 
about the manner of eating and drinking, little in 
themselves it may be, but which make our daily per- 
formances at the table either one of the fine arts or 
simply a " feed," like any other of the domestic ani- 
mals. Do not come to the table with an untidy dress 
or disordered hair, nor with face and hands not per- 



MATTERS. 119 

fectly clean. Sit erect, do not lean back in your chair 
nor forward on the table. Do not put your elbows 
nor your arras on the edge of the table, and when 
your hands are unoccupied, let them lie in your lap. 
Don't play with your knife, lork, napkin ring or any 
article which may be near you. Begin eating as soon 
as you are helped, not waiting until all at the table 
have been helped, having first unfolded your napkin 
and laid it in your lap. Do not express a preference 
for any particular dish or portion of fowl, unless 
asked to do so, then reply at once. When a dish is 
handed to you, help yourself from the contents, if 
you wish any, before passing it to another, and when 
you pass a dish have both hands empty. When soup 
is served, sip it quietly from the side of the spoon, 
moving the spoon from you as you dip it into the 
soup. Do not tilt your plate for the last spoonful of 
soup, nor scrape any dish for the last morsel. Keep 
your tea cup, sauce dishes, whatever is for your own 
use, near your plate ; do not reach for anything, par- 
ticularly do not get up from your chair to reach any- 
thing, ask to have it passed to you. Accompany 
any request with " if you please," and accept or de- 
cline what is offered to you with " I thank you." Do 
not pour tea or coffee into the saucer, but drink it 
from the cup, laying your tea spoon in the saucer 
while doing so and also if you pass your cup to 
be re-filled. Never blow your tea or coffee or a 
mouthful of food to cool it, and don't mop off your 
plate with a piece of bread to get every drop of gravy, 
etc. 

Use your knife to cut up your food, but don't con- 
vey food to your mouth Avith it ; let the fork and 
spoon be used for that. Using the fork in the right 



120 THE HOME ON THE FAKM. 

hand may seem awkward to one not accustomed to 
it, but a piece of bread Jield in the left liand will be 
of assistance and a little practice will enable one to 
use the fork as easily as the knife, and far more grace- 
fully. In passing your plate to ])e refilled, keep 
your knife and fork in your baud or lay thera on a 
piece of bread, never on the table cloth ; when you 
are through the meal lay the knife and fork side by 
side on your plate, handles to the right. Do not 
take a dish out of the hands of a waiter, let him set it 
on the table. Eat slowly, for the sake of both health 
and manners, and do not make a noise with your 
mouth in eating or drinking. Look down while 
drinking; not around you over the top of your glass 
or cup. 

At home or at a private house, fold your napkin at 
the close of a meal and lay it by your plate ; at a 
hotel lay it on the table without folding. At 
a hotel or public table you are at liberty to 
leave the table when you choose ; at home do 
not leave before the others, or if obliged to do so, 
always ask the hostess to excuse you. Let every 
motion be quiet ; don't rattle your knife, fork or 
spoon against your plate. Never put your own 
knife or spoon into the butter, or any dish not intend- 
ed solely for your own use. Don't take large mouth- 
fuls, it looks greedy and it is decidedly awkward, 
should a remark be addressed to you, to be unable to 
answer it without choking. Break your bread and 
biscuit instead of cutting tliem with a knife, and lay 
a piece of bread on the edge of your plate to spread 
it. Don't handle the slices of bread or cake when they 
are passed to you ; take tlie piece that is nearest to 
you. 



MANNERS. 121 

When you have visitors make them feel at ease 
from the moment of their arrival, by every means in 
your power; though you should not appear to exert 
yourself. If one can learn to entertain company — 
especially unexpected company — without apparent 
eifort or fuss, it would save a wonderful amount of 
fatigue, and be less uncomfortable for the guests. 
Do not insist that your guests must " make them- 
selves at home " so repeatedly that they will wish 
themselves truly there. 

Do not absent yourself unnecessarily from your 
visitors, but when obliged to leave them to them 
selves do not apologize so profusely as to make it 
seem as if you doubted either their power of self en- 
tertainment or honesty. Don't spend the greater 
part of your friend's visit in the kitchen, preparing 
innumerable dishes for the edifying of the inner man. 
It is supposed your guests come for the pleasure of 
visiting with you, not merel.y to judge of your skill as a 
cook. Don't load the table with a great variety of 
eatables, nor urge your guests to partake of each dish 
and seem oifended if they do not. Don't apologize 
for your dinner, your house or your OAvn appearance ; 
it sounds as if you were fishing for complimentary re- 
marks, or else it calls attention to what would other- 
wise probably pass unnoticed. If, as sometimes hap- 
pens, the guest be one whom you may not like, let 
your courtesy be none the less unfailing. It would 
be unpardonably selfish to allow personal feeling to 
interfere with your duty as hostess. The old Scots 
had a custom the spirit of which is worthy of imitation 
in this age. They did not ask the name of the strang- 
ger who claimed their hospitality lest, finding he be- 
longed to a hostile clan, they might be lacldng h\ 



122 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

the courtesy which they thought due to every guest. 

When yourself paying a visit to a friend try to occa- 
sion as little extra work ns possible, but do not assure 
your hostess a dozen times that she must not go to 
any trouble for j'^ou. Once stating the fact is enough, 
a repetition sounds as though you rather expect some 
special effort for your benefit. Show that you appre- 
ciate every effort made to give j'^ou pleasure, and at 
the same time try to be entertaining and agreeable 
yourself; do not act as though your presence was suf- 
ficient compensation for any trouble your friends may 
take for your sake. Do not be over officious in help- 
ing your hostess. Offer your assistance if there seems 
to be any occasion for doing so, but do not insist if it 
be declined. Do not follow j^our hostess from one 
part of the house to another as she goes about her 
work, unless invited to do so. Do not handle little 
ornaments about a house, nor open closets or bureau 
drawers without permission, nor be needlessly inquis- 
itive in any way, for these things are exceedingly an- 
noying, as well as ill mannered. 

If your visit last through several days, do not an- 
noy your friends by being late to breakfast, or by 
keeping any me;'l waiting through carelessness on 
your i)art. Keep your room neat, don't leave your 
clothes lying about on the chairs, nor neckties, collars 
and cuffs, &o., on the bureau, washstand or floor. 
Above all don't stay till you wear out your welcome, 
and on leaving be sure to express your thanks for the 
kindness shown you, and the pleasure you have re- 
ceived. 

Before going from home on a journey, provide your- 
self with hairbrush and comb, papers of pins, and 
jiny toilet articles that are sacred to your owa use, 



MAITTERS. 123 

Avoid everything in a traveling dress that will soil 
or muss easily, and that is conspicuous. Light dresses 
and bonnets, lace collars and showy jewelry are not 
suitable for a traveling costume. Go to the station 
in time to get your ticket and have your baggage 
checked before the train whistles. Put your ticket 
where you can find it when the conductor asks for it, 
so you will not have to keep him waiting while you 
search x)Ocket, satchel and purse for it, and at last 
find it inside of your glove. Be calm and self-pos- 
sessed, don't get excited when the train comes, excite- 
ment and nervousness always betray the inexpe- 
rienced traveler. Don't fret and worry if the train 
should happen to be late ; it will only add to the dis- 
comfort of yourself and those near you. Do not, by 
spreading yourself and baggage over three or four 
scats, occupy more room in the car than rightfully be- 
longs to you, and then look ferociously at any one 
who looks as if he thought of coniestingyour right of 
possession. If you have a friend in another part of 
the car, do not shout back and forth at each other to 
the annoyance of every one else in the car. Loud 
talking and laughing are an abomination at all times 
and particularly so in a railroad car. Do not narrate 
every detail of your family history to any stranger 
with whom you may enter into conversation, and do 
not be too free to make acquaintatices iu travelling. 
At the same time one need not be unnecessarily off- 
ish, for while any familiarity should be instantly 
checked, one may be sociable with one's travelling 
companions without any loss of dignity. A young 
girl traveling alone cannot be too careful of her ac- 
tions in attracting attention. Young girls at the pin- 
feathery age are apt to think it fun to attract 



124 THE HOME ON THE far:m. 

attention of strangers, and to encourage rather 
than repel any tendency toward a "flirtation.'" 
AVhile in many cases this may be done simply in fun 
it is both silly and vulgar, and may lead to more se- 
rious consequences. No girl or woman can afford to 
do anything at home or abroad that will in any way 
compromise her womanhood, or lessen her self re- 
spect or the respect of others for her. 

There is a practice in vogue in the country, and not 
so very far in the country either, which cannot be too 
strongly condemned: the practice of indiscriminate 
hugging and kissing In many localities the sole 
amusement at evening parties consists in a series of 
kissing games, played by grown up young men and 
women. This cannot but be destructive to good mor- 
als, and while not strictly indecent, it destroys all the 
sanctity of what should be sacred to near relatives or 
those between whom is an engagement of marriage. 

Let your deportment, on the street, bequietor lady 
like, as the case may be. Don't talk or laugh loudl5% 
nor make audible comments on the people you meet. 
A lady recognizes an acquaintance with a smile and 
inclination of the head, if she meets the same person 
again the same morning or afternoon it is not neces- 
sary to repeat the bow ; a smile is sufficient. A gen- 
tleman raises his hat, not merely points his linger to- 
ward it, on meeting a lady acquaintance. If he shake 
hands with a friend, a cordial clasp of the hand (not 
a grip and pump handle shake) is enough. The greet- 
ing ''how do you do ?" should be replied to with the 
same words; it is simply a formal salutation, not in- 
tended as an inquiry as to the state of your friend's 
health. That comes afterward, if you are interested 
in knowing about it. 



AfAifNERS. 125 

A lady is never demonstrative in public, but keeps 
her feelinjrs of joy or sorrow to herself. For tliat rea- 
son the habit of kissing when two lady acqnaintances 
meet on the street, in churoh or any public place is 
not one to be followed unless under exceptional 
circumstances. 

Never turn around to look after any one you have 
just passed. If a gentleman has a cigar in his mouth 
lie should remove it when speaking to a lady ; though 
a gentleman does not use tobacco in any form, not 
only because of its injurious eftects upon the health, 
but because of its intolerable filthiness. 

When a lady and gentleman are walking together 
on the street, it is not necessary that the gentleman 
be always on the outside, and thus be obliged to 
''change sides'' in going from one side of the street to 
the other. It is usually best for the lady to be on the 
right hand side of the gentleman. In crossin'^ the 
street it is necessary to go singly, or in passing through 
a crowd, the gentleman always precedes the lady. A 
gentleman offers to relieve a lady with whom he 
may be walking, of whatever parcels she is carrying 
and should her hair or dress become disarranged in 
any way, it is his duly to inform her of the fact, should 
it escape her notice. 

In going into a store or house, a gentleman accom- 
panying a lady, holds open the door or gate and al- 
lows her to enter first. A gentleman precedes a lady 
in going up a flight of stairs, but allows her to pre- 
cede him in going down. When you ask for goods 
in a store say ''will you please to show me such and 
such goods?" or "I would like such and such if you 
please,"' not "I want so and so." Do not comment upon 
goods or their price, and never try to ''jew down" the 



iS(> THE HOStE ON THE FAtlM. 

price of an article ; it is an insult 1o the storekeepei* 
to ask him to let you have an article below its marked 
price and shows your own want of good breeding. If 
the price is too high do not take it and let that be the 
end of the matter. If you expect courteous treat- 
ment at the hands of a merchant or his clerks, and it 
is always expected, let there be equal courtesy on 
your part. 

It is sometimes said of Americans, by way of ridi- 
cule, that they will not allow two strangers to be to- 
gether without introducing them to each other. Un- 
necessary introductions, then, are to be avoided ; as 
if you are in company with a friend, and meet a sec- 
ond friend, unacquainted with the first, there is no 
need of introducing them unless for some special rea- 
son. In performing an introduction take pains to 
speak the names distinctly. Let the old custom of 
saying, " I'll make you acquainted with so and so " die 
out. Say, Miss Jones, allow me to introduce my 
friend Mr. Smith, or Mr. Brown, let me introduce you 
to my Mother ; the gentleman being introduced to 
the lady, the younger person to the older. Gentle- 
men usually shake hands with each other, but merely 
bow to ladies when introduced. Ladies bow to each 
other, and to gentlemen ; but rarely shake hands with 
the latter, unless it should be an elderly gentleman, 
or a particular friend of some member of the family. 
A gentleman never offers to shake hands with a lady, 
the first movement in that direction should come 
from her. A bow should be simply a forward incli- 
nation of the head, slowly and gracefully ; not the 
exaggerated bending of the whole body forward. That 
is reserved for the dancing school and stage. 

Let neatness and taste govern your dress. There 



MANNERS* I2t 

is too great a want of thought about the dress of the 
average woman, not in quantity of thought, but 
thought in the right direction. A dress to be in good 
taste should be at once becoming, suitable and con- 
sistent; that is, it should harmonize with the appear- 
ance of the wearer, it should be suitable for the occa- 
sion on which it is worn, and it should be in keeping 
with the means of the wearer. A little thought upon 
these points, will lead to happier results than if the 
sole object be how to make the biggest show with the 
least money. Too much thought, or too little, 
about dress indicates a weak mind, but it should be 
the aim of every woman to look as well as possible 
at all times ; remembering .that she is best dressed 
when everything is in such accord that one does not 
remember any detail of her appearance. A tall, slen- 
der person does not look well in clinging garments, 
a fleshy one does not look well in much draped or 
flounced skirts, while large figures, plaids and stripes 
are unbecoming to both. Light colors have a tenden- 
cy to increase one's size, dark ones diminish it. 
Heavy materials are not suitable for a slight, slender 
figure, while a large person is ridiculous in light, del- 
icate garments. A fair complexion, with light hair, 
may wear any of the light shades of color with good 
efl'ect, while a dark complexion with dark hair needs 
rich, bright colors. High, glaring colors, should never 
be chosen for a dress under any circumstances, nor 
should too many colors be used in the same dress. A 
cheap dress much be-ruffled and be-flounced is not in 
good taste, but however cheap the material may be, 
let it be neatly made and well fitting. 

Some judgment should be used in selecting a dress, 
as well as in making it; for many materials that are 



128 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

appropriate for city streets are as much out of place for 
riding over country roads as are (rained skirts. Don't 
put on a blue silk dress (if you happen to possess 
one) to wear on the ears, nor a white lace bonnet and 
white kid gloves when dressing for a country fair, or 
similar gathering. Such things have their place, but 
that place is an evening party or entertainment, and 
not in the dust of travelling or a mixed crowd. When 
well dressed don't act as if you were conscious of it 
all the time, nor hold your head and hands primly 
as though a move would dislocate some part of your 
costume. Have every button, pin, hook and eye, and 
hairpin properly and securely adjusted before lerving 
your own room, and then try to forget all about how 
you look ; to be fingering your hair or neck ribbons, 
or looking to see if your overskirt hangs just right, 
gives an air of self consciousness, as though you im- 
agined yourself the observed of all observers. Let 
your dress be neat and tidy, your gloves whole, your 
collar and handkerchief fresh and clean, and you will 
be always sure of looking well. 

Nothing is more untidy than soiled collars, and 
mussed neckties ; they spoil any dress. Your clothes 
should always correspond to your means, and like- 
wise in keeping with your home. It is a false pride 
to put all one can earn into fine clothes, regardless of 
the shabbiness of the home with which these are 
brought into contrast, and worse still if that home is 
unpaid for. Your social position is neither gained 
nor retained by the clothes you wear. Be as partic- 
ular about the neatness of j^our appearance at home, 
about yoor work, as if some stranger were present, 
and you will thus be prepared for strangers coming 
unawares. A dress the worse for wear and grease, no 



MAISTNERS. 129 

collar, your hair falling about your neck as if any 
thing were good enough for home, is disrespectful to 
your family and yourself. Carlessness soon becomes 
slovenliness, and she who is slovenly in her dress is 
so in her housekeeping and cooking. 

Keep your hair smooth, your whole person perfectly 
clean, your finger nails trimmed and your teeth well 
bnished. Don't use salt or charcoal to clean the 
teeth, they are injurious to the enamel, and are apt 
to cause sore gums. Plenty of soap and water at 
least once a day, is necessary to keep the teeth from 
decay, and the breath sweet. Don't anoint yourself 
with hair oil ; it is not cleanly, and except in rare 
cases, a vigorous use of the hair brush, morning and 
night, will make the hair smoother and more glossy 
than any oil. Don't scent your handkerchief with 
strong perfumes ; they are never in good taste, and 
are exceedingly disagreeable to many persons. If 
you have a good complexion thank fortune tor it and 
don't spoil it by the use of powder and paint. If it is 
not good, outward applications will not usually help 
it. A sallow or muddy complexion can ordinarily be 
improved by frequent bathing and attention to the 
diet, eating regularly and avoiding greasy meat, 
strong cofiee, hot bread and other indigestible food. 
Face powder, at best, fills up the pores of the skin, 
making it ihick and rough, while the use of flake 
white or other preparations containing white lead is a 
slow poison. 

Don't wear cheap jewelry. Far better, not wear the 
slighcst ornaments than the heavy earrings, massive 
necklace and bracelets whose very size proclaims 
them to be only sham. 

In all things avoid "loudness" and display. The 



130 TfiE HOStE ON THE FARM. 

true lady or gentleman never tries to attract atten- 
tion by the conspicuousness of costumes or peculiari- 
ty of manners. Anything in manner, speech, wear- 
ing apparel or jewelry that seems to say, "'look at me" 
is vulgar in the extreme. The best of manners and 
the most fastidious etiquette may become vulgar, if 
they are exhibited in such a manner as to cause the 
person to appear to be proclaiming superiority over 
those around. While it is not necessary in all things 
to accept the maxim, "When in Rome, do as Rome 
does," it is nevertheless always well to avoid calling 
attention to the fact that we are superior in manner 
or education to those around us. We would not like 
to have others do so with us, and it is, therefore, a vio- 
lation of the first rule of all good breeding, to do unto 
others as we would they should do unto us. 

In conclusion, there can be no positive rules of 
action laid down, as the instructions in a "complete 
letter writer" are given, so as to have some guide for 
any possible combination of circumstances. Do the 
best you can under all circumstances, and whenever 
you have an opportunity to study the manners of 
good society take advantage of it and put your knowl- 
edge faithfully into practice. 

Do not imagine that you can use your manners as 
you do your Sunday clothes, keep them stored safe 
away in a closet and only put them on for the bene- 
fit of company or on state occasions. Manners, to 
look well, must be easy, natural and graceful, and 
they cay only become so by constant use at home in 
the family. The person who is rude at home will 
never feel at ease in company, and every observant 
individual will see that his manners are not a part of 
himself, but something put on for the occasion. 



Manisters. 131 

Keep mind and heart so full of what is good and 
noble that there shall be no room for evil, and keep 
ever before you the best rule for all conduct : Do 
unto others as you would have others do unto you. 



THE GOLDEK SIDE. 

There is uiany a rest in the road of life 

If "\ve only would stop to take it, 
And many a tone from the better laud 

If the querulous heart would make it. 
To the sunny soul that is full of hope, 

And whose beautiful trust ne'er faileth 
The grass is green and the flowers bright 

Though the wintry storm prevaileth. 

Better to hope, though the clouds hang low, 

And to keep the eyes still lifted; 
For the sweet blue sky will soon peep thro' 

When the ominous clouds are lifted. 
There was never a night without a day, 

Or an evening without a morning; 
And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes, 

Is the hour before the dawning. 

There is many a gem in the path of life 

Which we pass in our idle pleasures 
That Is richer far than the jeweled crown 

Or the miser's hoarded treasures; 
It may be the love of a little child, 

Or a mother's prayer to heaven. 
Or, only a beggar's grateful thanks 

For a cup of water given. 



CHAPTER VITI. 



LEISURE HOURS. 



An evening at home is a delightful treat to me now, 
since I have left that sacred place to go out into the 
world and with the multitude, engage in the endless 
wearysome battle for money and self-support. An 
evening at home ! IIow pleasant the thought, and how 
that thought carries us back again to the years of our 
careless childhood, when, with parents and brothers 
and sisters, we all gathered about the little old-fash- 
ioned fireplace in that happy country home. Memo- 
ry brings back some sad and gloomy evenings, but 
many more X)leasant and agreeable ones. It was a 
time that brought us leisure hours. 

Many there are who have gone out from our coun- 
tiy homes, seeking some easier road to wealth or 
fame, and have found that amidst the rush and hurry 
and excitement of business, those leisure hours never 
come again, and those happy evenings in the country 
home must evermore be but memories. I do not wish 
to begin too gloomily, but my dear country girl or 
boy, if my pen could write words which would convey 
to your minds any idea of how precious and valuable 
are the leisure hours of a quiet evening on the farm, 
I would feel repaid for all my toil and weariness. 
These hours are of untold value to you and should l?e 



134 THE HOMB ON THE FARM. 

spent iu such a way as to recuperate the strength of 
body, invigorate the mind, and strengthen the entire 
system for coming duties. Leisure hours are some- 
times idly and unprofitably spent, but we woukl not 
have our readers infer that our hands should be em- 
ployed in labor every hour. There are times when it 
is a positive duty, claimed by nature, that we should 
sit down and fold our hands and let mind and muscle 
rest ; rest not only from labor, but from care and 
thought, if possible ; and our Creator knowing that 
some of us would not give ourselves the nece.-sary 
rest, provided against general self-destruction by 
causing night with its unspeakable blessing of sleep 
to succeed each day, thus compelling us to obtain the 
rest we need. 

There are two great classes of people in America. 
One class consists of workers; the other of idlers, and 
both classes terribly overdo themselves in their 
chosen vocation. The workers work too hard, and the 
idlers rest too hard, and both classes get wrinkled 
and gray long before Nature meant they should. A 
sensible medium between the two extremes would 
bring a general blessing to humanity. It would cer- 
tainly develop muscular strength if the idlers would 
exercise a little more actively during the day, and it 
would save muscular power if our workers would 
cherish andiniprove the leisure evening hours. When 
these hours do come, and they always will in our 
country homes, let us make them a time for special 
enjoyment in the family or social circle. I believe in 
going early to bed, but nine o'clock is quite earlj'- 
enough, and the intervening hours between dusk and 
bed-time should be hours of such high social enjoy- 
ment in the family as to leave an impression ef pleas- 



LEISUBE HOUBS. 135 

nre, which will last through all the succeeding years. 
Reading aloud is one of the surest ways for spending 
an evening at home pleasantly, providing we make a 
wise selection of what to read, and do not read too 
much at one time. Atone time we were planning to 
make some improvements in our home, in regard to 
which the diifercnt members of the family were all 
divided in opinion, and whenever evening came, and 
we were gathered about the fire, any mention of 
the subject was apt to bring about a warm contro- 
versy, and one of us would immediately get an inter- 
esting book and begin reading aloud. It seldom failed 
to secure quiet and good attention, but we always tried 
to select books or stories, which were both amusing and 
instructive. AVe read Samantha Allen's Works, "My 
Wayward Pardner," "Samantha at the Centennial," 
"Helenas Babies" and numberless stories from the 
Youth's Companion, which were so entertaining that 
every one became interested, and mirth soon chased 
every frown away. The evening seemed short while 
listening to the laughable speeches of dear old Saman- 
tha Allen, and we received manj" a valuable lesson by 
her quaint and sage advice. Her "Wayward Pard- 
ner" was so exactly the type of every other wayward 
pardner that the very life likeness is amusing. 

Light reading fills a need of all our lives, which 
solid reading never can supply. Solid reading matter 
requires an effort of the brain and memory while 
light-easy flowing sentences rest the brain, and that 
is what we need. We are opposed to all trashy nov- 
els, but all novels are not trashj-, and we do think that 
every parent should hesitate a long while ere he ban- 
ishes from his library the better class of novels. Let 
your sous and daughters read Dickens' novels, Mrs, 



136 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

Stowe's quaint stories and many other kindred ones. 
It will do the young people much good and not one 
bit of harm. 

But with this there should be some more solid read- 
id, or at least valuable reading. The long winter 
evenings are the opportunities for storing the mind 
with useful knowledge, broadening the ideas, and ac- 
quiring habits of thought. Such books as Irving's 
Life of Washington never lose their freshness, or 
their value, and are as fascinating as a love story. 
Works on ancient or modern history, the researches 
of the Holy Land, explorations at the North Pole, or 
in Africa, some of our books on popular science, all 
these, and many others, may be read with both profit 
and interest. 

Do not be in too great a liurry to ''get through" the 
book. It is not the number of pages read, but the 
amount jof information gathered, and the impression 
made on the mind, which is valuable. Make it a rule 
that any member of the family shall have the right to 
interrupt at any point where a statement is not un- 
derstood, and have it discussed till it is understood. 
''Talking over" a book is often of as much benefit as 
reading it. While one member of the family reads, 
let another have a dictionary convenient, and when- 
ever a word is read, the pronunciation or meaning of 
which is not certain, let the dictionary be called into 
recquisition, and the matter settled before reading 
proceeds. 

Do not tliink that the use of the dictionary is a con- 
fession of ignorance. One of the best teachers and 
best educated men in Ohio once said, that his meas- 
ure of a person's culture was the amount of use he 
made of the dictionary. If he had uo/culture, he had 



LEISURE HOUBS. 137 

no lite for a dictionary, if he had a great deal of cul- 
ture he made constant reference to it. 

Only by a knowledge of the exact meaning of 
words, and the shades of distinction between them, 
can we get the full meaning of the writer, whose 
works we read, or express ourselves with elegance or 
accuracy. 

Those who read aloud should endeavor to do the 
work w^ell, avoiding a vsing song tone, and equally 
avoiding a wearisome monotone. He should en- 
deavor to catch the meaning of the WTiter. The only 
good style of reading is the natural style. Let it be 
understood that each member of the family has the 
right to kindly call attention to any errors of manner 
or pronunciation, not in the spirit of criticism or fault 
finding but that of kindly help to improvement. 

Remember that there are many items of intelli- 
gence in the columns of your weekly newspapers, 
wdiich will make your families more awake to the 
matters outside of the family circle, if read and talked 
over in the family. Read of the earthquakes and talk 
of the countries where they occur, and of the sup- 
posed cause of their occurrence, and thus your little 
children will become acquainted with the wonderful 
workings of Nature. Read of prairie tiros and describe 
their cause and results. Read of the beauties of our 
beautiful American country, and get your children to 
love the beautiful in Nature as well as in art. If \ou 
have but few school advantages you can have your 
families as w'ell enlightened and instructed as any 
College graduate, for books and newspapers are won- 
derful educators if read aright. 

A book in poetry comes in well, now and then, and 
if well read and well studied, is powerful in develop- 

e 



147 TUE nOIVIE ON THE FAKM. 

ing a taste for the beantifiil and in cultivating higher 
sentiments. Books like Holland's "Bitter Sweet," or 
Tennyson's "Enoch Arden," cannot but have an en- 
nobling ellect on the mind and heart. But it should 
be remembered, that poetry, if badly read, is simply 
intolerable, and that the finer the poem the less it 
will bear poor reading. 

Will Carleton's poems should be in 'the home of 
every farmer who can alFord them. He is our farmer 
poet, and in his writings he touches so directly the 
country heart, and teaches so many plain, wholesome 
truths, that his poetry should mingle and blend with 
our country lives. 

Don't allow the children, who are attending school, 
to spend the entire evening poring over the lesson of 
the Ibllowing day. It is not much study, but proper 
study which develops the brain, and alter six hours of 
study in the school room, the evening should be de- 
voted to lighter work, or else put aside work alto- 
gether, and engage in some enjoyable game. The 
idea of games being sinful is a false and foolish one. 
A certain amount of fun is necessary in every per- 
son's lifetime, and young people must and will have 
it. If you banish games from your home your sons 
and daughters will seek pleasure elsewhere, perhaps 
in a less pure atmosphere. Many a boy has been 
driven from a pure home to the association of card 
and billiard players and drinkers, simply because 
home was too dull a place for his fun loving, rollick- 
ing nature. He must have fun, and it home is dull 
and gloomy, there are plenty of attractive places in 
the nearest village, and be sure of one thing, "the 
farther your boy is from home the nearer he is to 
harm." 



LEISURE nOURS. 139 

The need for family amusement has jriven rise to so 
many delijihtful litile games, that in this respect no 
home need be ]ackin<r. Parlor croquet is a lively, in- 
terestino; game and full enough orexcireinent to en- 
tertain the boys as well as girls. I have sometimes 
thought that a boy might be won from billiard play- 
ing to a game of parlor croquet, providing you have 
for his partner, a lively lady IViend. 

Boys do enjoy the society of fascinating, fun-loving 
girls, and when j'ou can gather the boys and girls 
of your neighborhood into your home you have 
done your own childr>n much good. Checkers is an 
old home game, but a good one still, and I well re- 
member how pleasantly excited Ihave frequently be- 
come while playing a game of checkers w^ith an ex- 
pert player. It is these little games which concen- 
trate all the faculties of the mind upon the game, 
and, for the time, exclude every earthly care, which 
tend to do us good. Many a night we girls have 
played "fox and geese" with father from dusk till 
bedtime, and his skill as a player has taught us many 
a lesson in regard to the power of tact and skill in 
business. He was a strong Methodist and frowned 
teiTibly at the mere mention of dancing or card play- 
ing, but would get enthusiastic over a game of "fox 
and geese," and took a perfect delight in penning our 
multitude of geese in a corner of the play board with 
his one fox, and I believed we sometimes enjoyed 
being penned. Our mother never joined us in our 
games, but she gave us time to play, and never 
hunted up work to put us at to keep us from them. I 
must confess that I for one spent hours over the check- 
erboard when I might have been sewing or knitting, 
but we have grown to years of maturity, with a love 



140 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

for work as well as play, and not one of us bnt would 
work ni^lit and day for the sake of the parents, who 
were wise enough to save us from slavery in our 
childhood. I know there is an "endless significance 
in work" to man or v^'oman who has care and trouble, 
but an "endless significance lies in play" to the grow- 
ing girl or boy. The Poet says : 

" He liveth long wlio liveth well, 

All else is being flu"g away; 
He liveth longest who can tell, 

Of true things truly done each day. 
Waste not tny being; back to him 
Who freely gave it, freely give ; 
Else is that being but a dream 
Tis not to be, but just to live. 

"Fill up each hour with what will last, 

Buy up the minutes as they go; 
The life above when this is past 

Is the ripe fruit of life below." 

Oh! there is a wonderful meaning in this idea of 
living life well. It means happiness, love, enjoyment 
and play, as. well as trouble and care and work. 
" Buy up the moments as they go;" fill them full of 
sunshine and fun, if possible. Remember, every hearty 
laugh drives away a wrinkle from the brow, or eases 
a heartache. 

Fill the home with music, if possible, for there is a 
charm in music which will win the wayward boys 
and girls back to home and virtue, even though they 
may have strayed awhile. An organ, or piano, or 
other musical instrument ought to be in every country 
home I have sometimes thought a musical instru- 
ment is as necessary as a sewing machine, or as a 
mowing machine is on the farm ; it is such a help in 



LEISttRE nOUKS. 141 

the entertainment of your friends, and to be able to 
entertain your friends in an amiable manner is some- 
thing to be proud of. 

The time has passed when company, coming in to 
spend an evening, must be supplied with an extra 
supper, as in our mothers' younger days. All we 
have to do is to make them enjoy an agreeable, social 
evening. If we happen to have a supply of apples or 
nuts, or have the facilities for getting up a nice dish 
of ice-cream, in a hurry, all the better ; but if we lack 
these eatable entertainments, we can please them 
with a song and lively music. We can bring out our 
checker-board and croquet table ; we can get our 
game of '' Authors," which will at once engage our 
guests in animated conversation, and your ensuing 
talk of these authors and their writings will exclude 
many a, temptation to talk of a neighbors faults or 
errors ; and anything which does this is a blessing in 
a neighborhood. Your company is best entertained 
when you can bring some art, or music, or game, or 
talk of a subject, which will make them Ibrget every- 
thing disagreeable and, for the time, thoroughly enjoy 
themselves. 

" Our lives are albums, written through 
With good and bad, with false and true; 
And when the recording angel reads the record of our years, 
God grant he read the good witli smiles, and blot the bad with 
tears." 



CURED m AR IRREGULAR WAY. 

Deacon Rogers he came to me, 
"Wife is agoin' to die," said he; 
" Doctors great and doctors small 
Haven't improved her any at all. 
Physic and blister, powder an' pill, 
Bound to conquer and sure to kill." 
Mrs. Rogers lay in her bed. 
Bandaged and blistered from foot to head. 
Bottle and saucer, spoon and cup, 
On the table stood bravely up. 
Physics of high and low degree, 
Calomel, catnip, boneset tea ; 
Everything a body could bear 
Excepting light and water and air. 
I opened the blinds ; the day was bright, 
And God gave Mrs. Roger.s some light. 
I opened the window ; the day was fair, 
And God gave Mrs. Rogers some air. 
Bottles and blisters, powders and pills, 
Catnip, boneset, sirrup and squills. 
Drugs and medicines, high and low, 
I threw them as far as I could throw. 
Deacon Rogers he came to me 
"Wife is gettin' health," said he. 
"All the people have poohed an' slurred — 
All the neiglibors have had their word. 
'Twere better to perish, some of 'em say, 
Than be cured in such an irregular way." 
"Your wife," said I, "had God's good care, 
And His remedies, light and water and air. 
All the doctors, beyond a doubt, 
Couldn't have cured Mrs. Rogers without." 



CHAPTER IX. 



HEALTH IN THE HOME. 



The word "health" and (he word "whole" origi- 
nally had the same meaninjr. Hence, we so often 
lind in the Bible the statement that a sick man was 
"made whole." Health is wholeness of body — a per- 
fect body complete in all its functions, all the various 
organs doing their work correct ly and easily. 

The human body may correctly be said to be a ma- 
chine, a wonderful machine, a mysterious machine, 
but still a machine. It is the function of tliis machine 
to furnish a habitation for the soul, and a means by 
which the soul may accomplish its purposes. It must 
also provide a source of power for the accomplish- 
ment of its own ends. 

This machine, like all others, is constantly wearing 
out, but unlike machines made by men, it posseses 
the power of as const antl}"- repairing itself. The 
source of all power in this machine is the food. Not 
only does the food supply the materi-d for growth, 
and repair, but it also furnishes the power by which 
the machine is operated. 

The stomach and digestive organs take the food and 
reduce it to a condition suitable for the use of the sys- 
tem. It is then called blood. The heart, with 
its never tiring pump, forces this blood to every 



144 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

portion of the body, from whence it returns 
to the heart, which then sends it to the 
lungs, where it absorbs oxygen from the air, and 
again returning to the heart, begins the great circuit 
over again. In this great circuit the blood performs 
three different kinds of service. 

It first carries material to the body to repair the 
waste that is constantly going on. It also carries 
away the waste and worn out material, and disposes 
of them through the proper outlets, which are the 
lungs, the skin and the kidnej'^s. 

And thirdly, by absorbing oxygen from the air, it 
keeps up a constant combustion, by which the heat of 
the body is maintained, and the energy needed for all 
the functions of the bod}'' is generated. 

It follows, then, that if the body is to be healthy 
(whole), in other words, if this machine is to be kept 
in perfect working order, performing all its functions 
easily and well, that the following conditions are nec- 
essary : 

1. There must be a sufficient supply of food. 

2. This food must be of a kind that contains the 
material needed for the use of the body. If it is de- 
ficient in material for the repair of the body, injuiy 
must result even though the food might be abundant 
in quality. 

3. The food must be of such a character, and in 
such a form that the digestive organs can readily con- 
vert it into blood. 

4. The removal of waste material must not be in- 
terfered with, or the blood will become so loaded with 
it as to be unable to perform its proper functions. 

5. There must be a sufficient supply of air to the 
lungs, or the blood will not be able to absorb a 



i 



HEALTH m THE HOME. 145 

sufBcient quantity of oxygen to keep up the process of 
combustion, by which the heat of the bod}'- is main- 
tained, and the energy required produced. When 
the blood cannot get a sutficient supply of air, the ef- 
fect is precisely the same as when the damper to a 
furnace is closed — the engine begins to run slowly. 

Disease is simply want of health. The body is not 
whole, the machine is not in good order and does not 
perform its work perfectly. The ancient idea of dis- 
ease was that it was some sort of evil or demon that 
had gained possession of the body. Much of our com- 
mon language is based on this idea. We speak of an 
"attack" of fever, of "getting rid" of a cold, of "break- 
ing" the chills. Much of the pQ|)ular treatment in 
sickness is based on the idea that this evil "thing" is 
to be driven out. 

Yet the idea is entirely without foundation. When 
a person is sick the fact is simplj' that the machine is 
not working perfectly, and as all parts of the machine 
are so wonderfully connected, and mutually depend- 
ent, if one part works badly all will do so. If the di- 
gestive organs do not furnish good blood, of course the 
wear and tear of the machine cannot be repaired, and 
the requisite supply of energy cannot be obtained. If 
the lungs do not their duty projjerly, the blood can 
not be supplied with oxygen and the waste will not 
be properly removed, and if the skin does not do its 
duty, that of removing waste matter, it is plain that 
the blood wdll soon be loaded with waste, that no 
part of the body can be w^ell — that is, "whole." 

The causes of imperfect work on the part of these 
various organs are imperfections in the conditions 
that have been named as essential for their perfect 
work. 



146 WIE lIOBiE on THE FARM. 

A very high authority once said that disease Tvas 
never a "dij^pensation of Providence ;" it was simply 
a "blunder." Kecognizing the fact that Providence 
works through law, and overules human blunders for 
the accomplishment of wise ends, it j^et remains true 
that from the human standpoint disease is simply a 
blunder. It may not be our own blunder; it may 
not be the blunder of an\'' one living, but it is a blun- 
der. 

To understand the causes of disease, we must there- 
fore consider the food, the condition of the skin and 
the supply of air. 

FOOD. 

• 

We have seen that it is essential that food should 
be sufficient in quantity and of a proper character. 
It might be added, that it must not be excessive in 
quantity, for a mill will do as badly if choked with 
excessive grist, as if insufficiently supplied. 

There has been a popular health idea that starving 
was the remedy for all disease and the infallible 
guide to health. The idea was introduced after ages 
when gormandizing had been the rule and modera- 
tion the exception ; when many of the diseases with 
which mankind were afflicted were the results of over- 
feeding on rich foods. In the treatment of persons 
in such condition a restriction of their diet was one 
of the most beneficial things that could have been 
adopted. It was as though a furnace had been 
crammed with coal until it was choked; the best treat- 
ment would be — ''less coal " But to imagine because 
restriction of diet was beneficlTl after a course of over- 
feeding that therefore habitual starvation would be 
wise, was as absurd as to imagine that an engine 



ilEALtH m THE HOME. 1i1 

could do good work unless supplied with a sufficien- 
cy of good food. 

Pestilence has always followed in the wake of fam- 
ine; and starvation, whether as the result of necessity, 
or a mistaken abstemiousness or from the use of 
food unadapted to the needs of the system, always 
results in physical weakness, and ultimately in dis- 
ease. 

The first essential then is food in sufficient quanti- 
ty, and as a general rule, the unperverted appetite, 
an appetite not spurred up by stimulants, or condi- 
ments, is the safest guide. If a healthy man eats at 
regular intervals wholesome food, and eats slowly, 
his appetite will tell him when to stop. The appe- 
tite was given for that purpose. Food taken after 
the appetite ceases to call for it is always food in ex- 
cess, whether much or little has been eaten. Food 
must be of the right character. The human system 
needs different kinds of food for different purposes. 
For repairing the waste of the system food such as 
meat, milk, eggs, cheese, and other foods that are 
called nitrogenous are alone of value, but for furnish- 
ing the enegy needed, and for keeping up the ani- 
mal heat, starch and sugar, and foods rich in these 
substances are nearly as valuable as the nitrogenous 
foods, and fat is for this purpose much more so. One 
pound of pure fat, if digested, will furnish more 
material for mainlainingtheheat of the body and fur- 
nishing a source of physical energy, than several 
pounds of the best lean beef. 

On the other hand, for repairing the waste of ani- 
mal substance, and for giowlh, fat and starch are ab- 
solutely without value. A man fed 'on pure fat and 
pure starch would die of starvation as surely as if he 



148 THE flOSER om Tlffi FARM. 

had no food at all. Children are sometimes actually 
starved by being kept on a diet of arrow-root, tapioca, 
sago and similar foods. Fed on such a diet the child 
may appear fat, but the flesh will lose all substance, 
become flabby and doughy, and if the diet is not 
changed, the child at last dies of starvation. 

The true diet should contain a fair proportion of all 
these various kinds of food. People who live on food 
that is chiefly starchy, such as potatoes or rice, lack 
physical vigor. Those whose diet are chiefly meats 
and fat are liable to become coarse, and finally dis- 
eased from the excess of nitrogenous matter. 

Children need food richer in nitrogenous matter 
than grown people; it is necessary to enable them to 
make healthy growth. 

After the growth has been attained, a larger pro- 
portion of the food may consist of starcli and fat. 

The food must be digestible. Food taken into the 
system and not digested not only furnishes no 
strsngth to the system, but disorders the digestive 
organs, and deranges the whole economy. Haifa 
pound of food that is all digested will be of far more 
value than a pound, only half of which is digested. 
We said that for certain purposes fat (if digested) was 
the most concentrated food that could be used, but if 
not digested, fat becomes only a source of irritation to 
the digestive organs. Strong, hearty men with vig- 
orous stomachs, and who exercise much in the open 
air, can often eat fat food largely and keep healthy on 
it, but persons who are not blessed with strong stom- 
achs and who do not perform a large amount of 
out-door exercise, cannot digest fat in quantity. 
Any food that is readily and completely digested is 
good, if of the right character, but if the stomach is 



HEALTH IN THE HOME. 149 

loaded ^vith food it cannot digest, the effect is the 
same as choaking a mill by craming into it material 
it cannot grind. The machine becomes disordered, 
the man says he is sick and begins to look around for 
some powerful substance to put into his already over- 
loaded stomach to " drive away the disease." 

If that same man were feeding a mill and should 
get it out of order by putting in material it could not 
grind, he would probably overcome the difBculty by 
being more careful what he fed to it. When a man 
has dyspepsia he has simply put something into 
his vital mill which it was unable to grind. Com- 
mon sense would seem to indicate the remedy. 

AIR. 

We have already seen that the human machine 
needs plenty of air to keep it in successful working 
order ; it is as essential to human life and vigor, as it 
is to th© sucessful working of a furnace. Whatever 
restricts the supply of air, whether it be a close room 
or such restrictive clothing as i)revents a person from 
taking full and free breath, must interfere with 
health. 

Farmers, working on the farm, usually gf-t an 
abundant supply of air in the day time, but at night 
this supply is often sadly restricted. An adult person 
requires GO cubic feet of air an hour. A bed-room 8 
feet square and 8 feet high would, therefore, furnish 
just sufficient air, supposing it could all be used, for 
one person eight hours. Yet it is not uncommon for 
two or more persons to sleep in such a room, with the 
windows closed, and complain in the morning that 
they don't feel well; they must take some medicine to 



150 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

" drive away the disease." AVhy, the trouble is sim- 
ply that the conditions J'or physical health,or "whole- 
ness," had not been complied with. The amount of 
oxygen necesssary to keep up the vital energy had 
not been provided, and the wasle material Irom the 
blood which should have been thrown off through the 
lungs had still been retained, making the head heavy 
and the whole body sick. 

Without plenty ot pure air, health is simply an 
impossibility. 

THE SKIN, 

One of the chief functions of tlie skin is the removal 
of waste and dead material from the body. This pro- 
cess is going on continually, and the amount of dead 
and waste animal matter thus removed in the course 
of a day is quite considerable. 

If the matter thus thrown off is left upon the skin, 
two results follow: First, the skin is unable longer 
to do its duty in removing waste from the body, and, 
second, a portion of this decaying matter is re-absorbed 
into the blood, which, now loaded with impurities is 
incapable of carrying proper nourishment to the dif- 
ferent organs of the body and they accordingly are 
unable to do their pai'. The man is sick and 
must take some medicine, pour other indigestible 
material into the stomach and blood, to "drive out 
the disease." He would not do so with any other 
machine he might be managing. 

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS. 

From the facts already explained it follows that if 
finy person would be healthy (whole_) the conditioQS 



HEALTH TX TIIE HOME, 151 

for successful u'orking of the machine must be com- 
plied with. Nature is strict, and visits a penalty, 
89oner or later, on every violation of her laws, often 
vis"ting the iniquities of the father on the children 
unto the third and fourth generation. 

Healthful food must be adapted to the needs and 
work of the individual. 

FOR THE GUILD. 

Tlie most perfect food ever made is pure milk. For 
theunweaned infant it is the only food that is exactly 
suited. Experience and science alike agree that no 
substitute can be found for it. Unfortunate is that 
child whose mother cannot supply with nourishment 
from the natural fount, and unwise is that mother who 
deprives her infant of this nourishment if she can pos- 
sibly provide it. The chances for life are against the 
infant that has to be " raised by hand.'' 

Next to mother's milk the milk from healthy cows, 
diluted and sweetened, is the best food. Arrow-root, 
corn starch and other foods consisting chiefly of starch 
are totally unfit for the support of a growing infant; 
they lack the material for formation of bone and 
muscle, and if the child lives at all he will probably 
have flabby flesh, weak bones, an enlarged abdomen 
and impaired digestion. 

After the child begins to eat, his food should be 
plain and nourishing. No better diet can be provided 
than good, new milk with none of the cream removed, 
and good, well-cooked Graham bread. P'or moat, 
beef, mutton or poultry, but not pork, which taxes 
the digestive pouters of the strong mau. 

The child should be fed regularly ; as he grows older 



152 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

the time intervening between food may be increased, 
but for younfr, growing children it is not always best 
to wait the whole time between breakfast and dinner, 
and dinner and supper. Children should never be 
coaxed to eat. The natural appetite of a child will 
always induce him to eat, if good food is furnished 
and he needs it. The child who comes in between 
meals " almost starved " and, on being offered good 
bread and butter, or a bowl of bread and milk, replies 
he is hungry for cake, but not hungry for bread and 
butter, should be informed that he can wait till the 
next meal. Abstinence is one of the best remedies 
for an appetite that needs tempting. 

Good, ripe fruit is very seldom injurious to chil- 
dren or any one else, unless it contains an excess of 
acid, when it may derange the stomach. Fruit that 
is not ripe, or that is over- ripe and in any way tainted, 
is dangerous to any one. 

It were far better for parents to deprive themselves 
of articles of diet which they enjoy than to place 
them on their tables to the ruin of their children's 
health. 

GROWN PERSONS. 

The adult individual can profitably use more starch 
foods and more fat than the child. A pound of fat 
pork, if it can be digested, contains more material for 
the support of life than a large amount of bread or 
vegetables, or even beef. There is, in fact, no food 
so economical for the man who works hard in the 
open air, and who has a good, strong digestion, as fat 
pork. It must be remembered, however, that the 
value of fat pork as a food is limited by its digesti- 



bealtti in the home. 153 

bility, atid if not digested it becomes not only useless, 
but extremely harmful. 

White bread, we suppose, for a long time will con- 
tinue to be the " staff of life."' Why it was ever 
invented or introduced is hard to tel). Much of the 
most valuable nutriment of the wheat has been ex- 
tracted from it. The whole wheat is nearly a perfect 
food, and whole wheat flour makes a bread that is 
both wholesome and nutritious. One unfortunate 
circumstance is that many persons w^ho can make 
excellent white bread fail entirely when they attempt 
to make bread from Graham flour, and the flour is 
often condemned because the cook was not well 
informed. 

A very esFential point with bread of any kind is 
that it should be thoroughly cooked. The farmer 
judges the condition of his soil by taking a lump in 
his hand and squeezing it. If it remains in a solid 
mass he knows it is not in good order The same rule 
might be applied to bread. If a mass of it squeezed 
in the hand becomes a sodden mass, you may be sure 
that when squeezed between the teeth the same re- 
sult will ensue, and the bread will enter the stomach 
in j^^doughy mass, unmixed with the saliva, and in a 
condition in v.hich the digestive fluids will have diffi- 
culty in attacking it. 

Oatmeal is a perfect food, and it wood be well if it 
were far more extensively used by our farmers. A 
dish of well cooked oatmeal, served up with sugar 
and cream (not skim milk), furnishes a iiet that is 
wholesome and capable of building up the most per- 
fect physical frame. It is a good diet alike for chil- 
dren and adults. 

Vegetables — such as peas, beans, corn, roots, etc.— 



154 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

do not usually contain a great amount of nutriment^ 
but what they do contain is of the best, and their 
liberal use tends to promote a healthy condition of 
the digestive organs. 

Fruit is not nutritious to any very great extent, but 
like vegetables is valuable as food, and the family 
that makes fruit and vegetables a large proportion of 
their regular diet will have but little to imj to doctors 
and apothecaries. 

MASTICATION. 

One of our great American sins is rapid eating. To 
see an ordinary American family sit down to a meal, 
one would imagine that each was afraid the others 
would eat all there was on the table before he could 
get his share. Such a style of eating is not only an 
outrage on good manners, but w^kat is even more 
important, an outrage on our health. The teeth were 
made to be used, and we cannot expect our human 
machine to work properly if we deny to one part of 
the machine an opportunity to do its proper work, 
and compel another portion to d > double duty. 
Moreover, there is a portion of the work of digestion 
which is performed by the admixture of the saliva 
with the food, and this cannot be properly done urrless 
the food is chewed thoroughly and slowly. Many 
writers on health have much to say against the habit 
of drinking at meals, and it is undoubtedl}^ injurious 
to take liquids in excess while eating ; but if the food 
is thoroughly chewed, there will not be a demand for 
the excessive quantity of drink. 

REGULARITY. 

There are few things which cause more dyspepsia 



HEALTH IN THE HOME. 155 

than irregularity in hours of meals. Nearly every 
good farmer knows that his stock will not thrive if 
not fed at regular hours, yet he will treat himselt and 
family in a manner that he knows would be ruinous 
for cattle or pigs. There is probably no class, so 
many of whom are totally indifferent to the matter of 
regularity in meals as the farmers, and while the 
abundant exercise in the open air often saves them 
from immediately feeling the effects, it often falls 
heavily on wife and children. 

If you would be healthy, have regular hours for 
your meals, dividing the day as evenly as possible, 
and have your meals at those hours. 

EATING AT BED TI3IE. 

The " Wise Men " tell us that we should not eat 
anything just before going to bed. Dio Lewis, 
who says a great many good and sensible things, is 
forever advising his patients to do without their sup- 
pers. Another person (perhaps not so wise) once 
remarked that a man was the only anim 1 who could 
be trained into going to bed hungry. Among what 
are commonly called "'dumb brutes,"' we see that they 
uniformly eat till they go to sleep, and go to sleep as 
soon as they are through eating. We are of the opin- 
ion that the dumb brutes have the advantage of us 
in this matter, and that while a man who eats a 
hearty supper at 7 o'clock, and goes to bed at 8, would 
be very foolish to eat a lunch just before getting into 
bed, yet that a person who is up and working four or 
iSve hours after supper will be wise in taking some 
light food before going to bed. 

We do not mean by this that he should eat a half 



156 TUE II03IE ON tUE FAK3I. 

mince pie, and a large piece of fried pork. Persons 
who take lunches of that kind, at bed time or any 
other time, may expect to have dyspepsia. But a 
litt e bread and butter, or a ghiss of milk and a few 
crackers, will seldom disiuib the stomach, if taken 
before retiring, and will often induce qui^t and pleas- 
ant sleep. 

Some persons of delicate digestive powers complain 
that milk disagrees with tiiem 'f. instead of drinking 
the milk in qiiantitv, they will sip it slowly, "chewing 
ir," as it were, or eat it with bread or crackers, they 
will often find the difficulty removed. 

VENTILATION. 

"We have seen how important fresh air is to health, 
and the means of receiving it are no less important. 
Many persons seem to have the idea that ventilation 
is of importance in summer, but not in winter. The 
truth is exactly the reverse. In summer ventilation 
is almost certain to be attended to, but in winter, 
when the doors and windows are closed and every 
crack is stopped to keep out dralts, the ill effects of 
lack of ventilation are felt. Rooms are kept closed, 
and the poisonous air breathed over and over again. 
Many farm houses are built with the upper sashes 
fastened in. As the impure air that has been breathed 
is warmer than the Iresh air from out ot doors, and 
consequently lighter, this rises to the top of the room 
and it is almost impossible to get it out unless the 
window can be let down I'rom the top. It remains in 
the upper part of the room, and the dead, poisonous 
animal matter it contains is absorbed by curtains and 



HE.VLTH IN THE HOME. 157 

plastering till at last the room gets a "stuiF}%" close 
smell. 

THE NOSE. 

This organ of the body was not given us merely for 
ornament, as some seem to suppose. It is one of our 
most valuable means of protection — one of the keenest 
observers of danger. The horse and the dog start in 
terror when an odor which they know means danger 
salutes their nostrils, but mankind seem to have for- 
gotten the purpose for which the nose was created. 

Whenever the nose detects an unpleasant odor, you 
may know that the air of that room is impure, and 
therefore dangerous. The nose will grow accustomed 
to any odor in time, but if, after you have been out 
some hours in the pure, fresh air of the fields, you go 
suddenly into a bed room or sitting room, j'ou will 
readily perceive whether the air is pure or not. 

Take care of your nose ; don't spoil it with tobacco or 
snufl ; don't accustom it so long to close, ill savored 
atmosphere that it will lose its power of discrimination, 
and then use it as a means of testing the air of your 
apartments. 

A room heated by a stove is more likely to be ill- 
ventilated than one heated by a fire-place. In fact, 
if the fire-place has a good draft, ventilation is almost 
certain. This is the principal reason why so many 
people complain that a stove gives them the head- 
ache. It is not the stove, but the lack of ventilation. 

Provide some means for the escape of the impure 
air from the upper part of the room. Open wide the 
doors and windows of every inhabited roam once a 
day and let the pure air blow through and hunt out 



158 THE HOIVIE ON THE FARM. 

the poisonous matter that has accumulated in them. 

MOISTURE IN THE AIR, 

Air that has been heated by a stove acquires a 
great power of absorbing moisture, and dries the lin- 
ing membranes of the throat and lungs, producing a 
sense of suffocation and interfering with the proper 
work of the lungs. When a room is heated by stove, 
means should always be provided for keeping the air 
moist. The vessel containing the water should never 
be allowed to get dry, and the water should be 
changed and the vessel washed frequently, as it will 
gather impurities from the air and become a source 
of disease itself. 

CLEAiaiNESS. 

Most people would be shocked at the suggestion 
that they were not cleanly, and yet as regards health 
they may be sadly lacking in this respect. We have 
already seen that the dead and waste matter of the 
body is constantly being thrown off by the skin, and 
that if not removed it is partly re- absorbed, producing 
injurious effects. The underclothing also becomes 
saturated by it, and the warmth of the body causes it 
to undergo still further decomposition. 

To provide the conditions for successful working 
of the human machine this waste matter must be 
removed from the skin, and this can only be done by 
the liberal use of soap and warm water. In summer 
the whole body should be washed once a day, and in 
winter not less frequently than once, or better, twice 
a week. 

The clothing worn during the day should be taken 



HEALTH rs- THE HOME. 159 

off at night, particularly that which is worn next the 
skin, and thoroughly aired. If it can be hung in 
front of a good fire, so much the better. Make it a 
rule never to wear at night any garment that has 
been worn during the day, and never to wear during 
the day any garment that has been worn ^t night. 
Underclothing that has been worn at night should 
not be promptly rolled up and tucked away in the 
morning, but should be thoroughly aired. 

These rules are not rules laid down by mere fastidi- 
ous niceness, but are rules which serve the conditions 
for pure blood and successful worldng of the human 
machine. Many persons complain of dullness, heavi 
uess, pains in their limbs, dull headache, and think 
they must take some medicine, when all that is 
needed is the complete removal of the waste matter 
from the skin, so as to allow it to perform its proper 
work. 

Soap and warm water, liberally applied externally, 
followed by a rinsing with pure, soft, warm water and 
a good rubbing with a coarse towel, is a better blood 
purifier and complexion beautifier than all the syrups 
of Sarsaparilla, Stillingia and Yellow Dock that have 
ever been manufactured. 

A bath room and big t>ath tub is a ver}'' convenient 
thing in any house, but not everybody can have a 
bath room ; nor is it necessary. A bowl of water is 
all that is needed, if the application is repeated with 
sufficient frequency. If a man goes a month or more 
without washing himself, he may very likely need to 
be put to soak. 

Much is said of the virtues of cold water for bathing. 
Cold water, if the person is able to stand it, acts as a 
tonic ; but for the removal of the waste matter from 



160 THE HOlvrE ON THE FARM. 

the skin water that is at least tepid is preferable, as 
the matter to be removed is alwaj'-s somewhat greasy. 
In winter it requires a strong constitution to stand 
the eflects of a cold bath. Every woman knows that 
warm water has more cleansing powers than cold. 

Do not use strong, coarse soap. Soft soap may be 
good for washing clothes, but it is not good for human 
skin. Much of the cheap toilet soap sold is worse than 
worthless— made out of rotten grease, and the smell 
covered by strong perfumes. If you cannot afford a 
really nice article of toilet soap, get some of the purer 
articles of bar soap that are now made. 

Every mother knows what a soothing effect a good 
bath has upon a nervous, fretful child. Its effects 
are almost equally magical on tired, worried and 
nervous humanity. A good bath is an excellent 
treatment for a nervous headache. 

SUNLIGETT. 

The influence of light is not absolutely essential to 
the health of animals or to plants, but it is a matter 
of great importance. The farmer and his family are 
less likely to suffer from the effects of dark rooms 
than the dwellers in cities and towns ; but even they 
sometimes lose their health in a measure from trying 
to exclude the sunlight from their dwellings. If you 
would be healthy, build your houses so that the sun 
can shine into every room in the house, and then pull 
up the blinds and let him shine in. 

OTHER CAUSES OF DISEASE. 

Recent scientific investigations have revealed the 



HEALTH nST THE HOME. 161 

fact that a great number of diseases, perhaps all con- 
tageons diseases, are due to the seed germs of micros- 
copic plants. These are taken into the system either 
through the air we breathe or the water we drink, 
and, entering the blood, grow and propagate them- 
selves. It is, therefore, important, if we would be 
well, to know how to avoid these seed germs. 

Keep the house dry. Wherever you can detect 
mustiness or mouldiness, there is probability that 
there seed genns are forming and will be taken into 
the lungs through the breath. If the weather is 
pleasant, open wide the doors and windows and let 
the air circulate. If the weather is damp and chilly 
without, build a good tire within and keep a window 
partly open. Let in the sunshine. The direct rays 
of the sun are a more powerful disinfectant than any 
sold in the drug stores. Sun the bedding now and 
then, and after the carpets have been taken up in 
the spring, do not put them down again until they 
have been thoroughly sunned, and the floor on which 
they are to be put is thoroughly dry. 

Watch the cellar and see that vegetal)les are not 
left there to decay and poison the atmosphere of the 
house. As early in the spring as the weather will 
permit, open the celhir windows and let in the light 
and air, for a few hours at least, and take advantage 
of the light to remove every trace of dirt or decaying 
matter. 

Allow no slops or dish water from the house to be 
thrown out and saturate the soil. Many a case of 
typhoid fever has come from dish water thrown out 
at a back kitchen window. The slops from the house, 
and dish water, and wash water, will all be useful, if 
carried by some means to the compost heap, or 



163 THE HOlSrE ON THE FARM. 

garden, where they can be quickly mixed with an 
abundance of soil. On no account allow a portion of 
soil near the house to be saturated with these wastes. 

IMPURE WATER. 

Many diseases, especially dyphtheria, are spread 
by means of impure water. The water from a well 
may be bright and sparkling and pleasant to the taste, 
and yet deadly. Every well is, in its very nature, 
an underdrain, and if the soil is porous it will draw 
water from a surface supply at quite a distance. The 
well should, therefore, be located at a safe distance 
from any barnyard, cesspool, or other source of con- 
tamination. Thousands of lives are sacrificed every 
year by drinking contaminated water, and, though 
much has been said and written on this subject, the 
people are not yet as fully informed or as careful as 
they should be. 

If a well cannot be so situated as to be absolutely 
safe it were better to prepare a well cemented cis- 
tern, into which the rain water could be turned dur- 
ing winter and kept for drinking in summer. 

Water that is even quite dangerous may be made 
harmless by boiling, as this destroj^s the living or 
ganism, which is the source of danger. Persons who 
are suspicious of the source of their water supply may 
thus avoid all danger by drinking it only after it has 
been made into tea and coffee. 

TREATMENT OF DISEASE. 

Those who must resort to drugs must look to other 
books for their instruction. Here we shall only give 



HEALTH rX THE HO^IE. 163 

gome hints on treatment without the use of medicine. 
The first treatment of any disease is the removal of 
the cause, the second, the removal of all hindrances to 
recovery, the third, attention to all matters that will 
improve the general health. 

DYSPEPSIA. 

When a person puts food into his stomach which it 
cannot digest, or puts in more than it can digest, the 
undigested portion undergoes decomposition, giving 
oft' gases which cause pain and discomfort. Part of 
this undigested matter is absorbed and the blood be- 
comes loaded with impure matters deranging the 
whole system, and causing headache, stupor, bad 
health, heartburn, pains in the chest, liver disorder, 
biliousness and a multitude of other evils. This is 
dyspepsia. If this continues long the digestive or- 
gans become so weakened that even light food occa- 
sions trouble. 

The remedy is to carefullj^ watch the diet, and find 
by experiment what food is digested without trouble, 
and restrict the diet to that. When the digestive or- 
gans begin to gain strength, other food may gradually 
be taken. Oat meal, tender lean beef boiled — not fried 
— rice when properly cooked (not reduced to a soggy 
mass), boiled wheat, well baked bread, new milk, are 
usually easy of digestion. What exactly suits one 
person may not suit another. Fruits well cooked are 
often good. Tea and coffee are often the source of 
dyspepsia. Food of any kind should be taken but 
sparingly at first, but the dyspeptic should by no 
means starve himself. Frequent warm baths, with 
friction of the skin, are useful in dyspepsia as in most 



164 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

other complaints. They enable the blood to unload 
its impunities through the skin. The dyspeptic should 
eat regularly, and not go so long without food as to 
cause a sense of weakness or exhaustion. A cup of 
hot water drank just before eating often causes relief. 
The dyspeptic should seek the sunlight, breathe 
plenty of pure air and exercise moderately, but not 
overdo himself. 

FEVERS. 

The old idea that a patient with a fever should not 
be allowed to drink water or have it applied to his 
skin, was the very refinement of cruelty. For fevers 
of any kind, water is Nature's own remedy. It would 
probably not be good for a fever patient to drink at 
one time all the water he could — particularly if he 
had for some time been deprived of any drink — nor 
perhaps would it be wise to plunge a patient with a 
fever into a tub of ice water, but water to quench the 
thirst, and water to soften the parched skin is no 
longer denied by intelligent physicians. Nothing 
relieves a fever more than a tepid bath in a room 
warm enough to prevent a chill. Many fevers can be 
cured entirely by simple attention to diet, use of cool- 
ing drinks, and by keeping the skin moist and cool 
by frequent bathing or sponging of the whole surface 
of the body. 

Let it be remembered that a fever is simply the 
effort of Nature to through off through the skin poison- 
ous matters that have found lodgment in the system. 
These poisonous matters may be organized germs, 
such as recently described, or may be waste matter 
of the system which has not been removed through 



DEALTH IN THE HOBIE. 165 

the regular cliannels, or, not having been removed, 
has been re-absorbed. The "' feverish health " is due 
to the eflbrt of the system to throw off through the 
lungs that which should be removed through the 
skin. 

The writer of this chapter is frequently exposed to 
malarious influences and sometimes during summer 
and fall will feel the premonitory symptoms of ague. 
Instead of trying to "• kill the ague " with drugs, he 
tries to relieve his sj'-stem of the unnecessary burden 
which is getting the human machine out of order. He 
regulates his diet, selecting easily dii:ested and rather 
laxative foods, such as oat meal and fruits, and aids 
the removal of whatever causes the difficulty by fre- 
quent bathing. In many years he has nev( r had this 
treatment fail. It takes a little time, and must be 
thoroughly and carefully canied out in all its details, 
but it leaves the system free from poisonous drugs. 
By bathing, in this case, we do not mean simply 
moistening the ^kin with cold water, but such a wash- 
ing of the skin with warm soft water and soap, per- 
formed in a warm room, as will remove from the skin 
everything that will interfere with the proper per- 
formance of its duties. 



THE HOUR OF OUR DIHHERS. 

O hour of all hours, the most blessed upon earth, 
Blessed hour of our diunersi Tlie laud of his birth; 
The face of his first love; the bills that he owes; 
The twaddle of frieuds and the venom of foes; 
The sermon he heard when to church he last went; 
The money he borrowed, the money he S})ent; — 
All of these things a man, I believe, may forget, 
And not be the worse for forgetting; but yet 
Never, never, never ! earth's luckiest sinner 
Hath unpunished forgotten the hour of his dinner! 
Indigestion, that conscience for every bad stomach, 
Shall relentlessly gnaw and pursue liim with some ache. 
Or some pain; and trouble, remorseless, his best ease. 
As the Furies once troubled the sleep of Orestes. 
We may live without poetry, music, and art; 
We may live without conscience, and live without heart; 
We may live without friends; we may live without books; 
But civilized man cannot live without cooks. 
He may live without books, — what is knowledge without griev- 
ing? 
He may live without hope, — what is hope but deceiving? 
He may live without love, — what is passion but pining? 
But where is the man that can live without dining ? 



CHAPTER X. 



BREAKFAST. DENTSIER AND TKA. 



Our food is cooked that it may be more palatable, 
as well as more digestible. But a small part ol" the 
products of the earth can be used to sustain the life 
of the human family, until subjected to the action of 
heat in some form. Those so called scientists who 
advocate iinel}^ drawn theories about the liuman race 
drifting away from mother nature, and claim that we 
should eat all food just as it comes from her hand, are 
greatly in the minority ; not only among the common 
people, but among scholars as well. We have learned 
that savages are not the only interpreters of nature's 
laws of life ; that the highest life is as much a |)artof 
nature as the lowest ; that food skillfully cooked is 
as necessary to the civilized human being as the raw 
flesh is to the savage. 

But if food is cooked to make it digestible and 
palatable, it must be well cooked, or ii is neither. 
Who is there that has not suffered ior hours from 
indigestion, caused by wretchedly cooked food, and 
who has not tried to eat of some dish whose naturally 
fine flavor was ruined by poor cooking? There 
is but little merit in any cooking except the best, and 
if there is any disgrace in being a cook, it is in being 
a poor one. 



168 THE nOSIE ON TBE FAR3I. 

A woman cannot learn to do good cooking all at 
once ; it is a slow process requiring patience and 
perseverance. One great difBculty is to know where 
to go for instruction. In cities there are cooking 
schools and professional cooks who teach those who 
wish to learn, but larmera' wives have no such 
opportunities I'or a culinary education. Wha' they 
know must be learned from each other and from 
reading And j'et they, as well as all other classes, 
need this education. The assertion has been made, 
and loudly re-echoed through the agricultural press, 
that jarmers' wives are the best cooks in the country. 
This is a mistake. There are many women living on 
i'arms who know how to do good cooking, for good 
cooks are not confined to any one class of people. 
But, as a rule, they are not as good cooks as the 
women who live in towns and cities. The principal 
reason for this is that farmers' wives have so many 
more cares and so much more work to do, that they 
cannot devote the time nor attention to perfecting 
everything they ccok that the women ot cities can. 
For instance, when a faimtr's wife gets up in the 
morning, there is not only the breakfast to get, but 
the milk to be skimmed, usually the cows to be 
milked and food to be prepared tor calves, pigs and 
chickens, so how can she stand all the morning 
anxiously watching the coffee-pot, that it is just as 
hot as it can be without boiling, but does not boil, to 
make perfect coffee ? Another reason is that country 
people have not acquired the fastidious taste that 
comes from dainty feeding, so do not demand the 
very choicest dishes. If a dish is cooked as well 
as they are accustomed to having it, they are 
sati;siied And ask uo better. Still, farmers' wives 



Breakfast, din^tir amd tea. 169 

ought to be better cooks than they are; they ought 
to know how to cook perfectly everything that their 
farms produce. But where can they get this 
knowledge ? 

As before stated, they must obtain the most of their 
information from reading ; po one of the first things 
a good housekeeper should have is a good cook book. 
In selecting a cook book do not get one that gives the 
greatest number of receipts, but one that gives the 
best receipts. If there are ten different receipts for 
making yeast, you do not want to try them all to find 
out which is best. You want just one rule that is 
sure to be good every time. You want a book that 
will tell just how everything is to be put together, as 
well as what ingredients are to be used. Then the 
book should not all be given up to cakes and "pies. A 
book lately examined showed, for soups, thirteen 
pages; for pickles, thirt.y ; for vegetables, twelve 
pages; for puddings and pies, fifty ; tor dishes for the 
sick, six pages; for cake, forty-four. To tell how to 
make cake and pie seems to be the great object of 
most cook books. 

Avoid such books. What we most need to know is 
how to cook common dishes well, our potatoes and 
cabbage, in fact, all our vegetables ; hoAV to make 
soups, how to cook meats so they shall be tender and 
juicy and retain all the meaty flavor, how' to make 
simple relishes and salads, and, above all, how to 
make good bread. This is the most important item 
of all, and is often the most neglected. There are 
families all over the country eating poor bread and 
calling it good, simply because they do not know what 
good bread is. They think that if it is white it is 
good, not considering that, being white, it may at the 



ItO THl: HOME ON THE FARM. 

same time be sour, hard and dry, three qnalifications 
that will ruin the whitest bread. The most essential 
qualification in good bread is that it shall be sweet, 
no taste of the yeast or rising, nothing but the pure 
wheat llavor ; then it should be light ; heavy bread 
is alwa^'S poor bread ; then let it be moist and tender, 
not dry and crumbLngin the mouth. If you can have 
all these, and at the same time have it white, very 
well ; if not, do make brown bread and let the white 
alone. 

Country housekeepers often do not use the cook 
books they have, because so many of the receipts 
require ingredients that are not at hand. In cities, 
where it is but a few steps to the market or grocery, 
or no distance at all by the telephone, it is an easy 
matter to have everything needed to make out a bill 
of fare ; but in the country there must be full supplies 
on hand, or else when they are needed an extra trip 
.to town must be made — or go without. It costs no 
more to keep a large amount of groceries on hand 
than it does a small amount, provided the same 
quantity is regularly used ; and the satisfaction of 
having it in case of the unexpected arrival of company 
is greater than all loss from shrinkage. The country 
housekeeper who has watched the arrival of a load 
of company when she is " out of everything," and has 
experienced the chagrin of inviting them to a thinly 
set table, should remember her resolve to always have 
something in the house to get up a good meal with. 

Then, having the book to guide you and the 
materials to be used, try one receipt over and over 
again, until you can make an acceptable dish. Then 
try another receipt, and so on, until you have learned 
to make a sufficient variety. Do not think you must 



BREAKFAST, D1:NNER AND TEA. 171 

Bucceed every time, or that you must learn to make 
everything in the book. Then having succeeded in 
making a new dish, try and succeed in having the 
family like it. It makes no diflerence how well a 
dish may be cooked or served, if it is not relished by 
those who eat it, it is not a success, and better, as 
nearly everyone does, go back to the o'd ways. 

Have the table neatly set. Do not use the table 
cloth and napkins until they are offensive ; you ruin 
the flavor of the best dinner by so doing. Colored 
ones are more apt to be so used than white; so 
don't buy them. Have dishes enough on the table so 
that everything, meat, vegetables, sauce and all, need 
not be piled on the same i)late. Have everything 
put in order in even rows and straight lines, or in 
groups. If your napkins are too good for every day 
wear, and must be kept for comjtany, cut up an old 
table cloth into napkins, and with red marking cotton 
work an initial of each member of the family into 
different napkins, so that each will know his own. and 
then never set the table without them. Do not have 
too great a variety of food on the table at once. One 
kind of meat, and a vegetable, one kind of fruit or 
pickle, and a dessert, is enough for any except a largo 
company dinner or breakfast. A few good dishes are 
better than a great many poor ones. A good meal 
does not consist in the number of kinds on the table, 
but upon the excellence of each particular dish. 

THREE MEALS A DAY. 

While invalids and people who do not labor can do 
very well on two meals a day, it is a fact proven by 
common experience that heal thy laboring people need 



lt2 Tirt; HOJtE ON THE FARM. 

three meals each twenty-four hours. ^ And let it be 
remembered that there should be three separate and 
distinct meals, not the same meal served in sections. 
If the same dishes served in the same way are put upon 
the table each time, the third time they appear they 
cannot be very tempting. Then, if the same meals 
come back again the next, day, and the next, and the 
next, they become in time an annoyance to the very 
best appetite. 

To illustrate this : Many people have a habit of 
cooking a thing, perhaps making a cake, and putting it 
upon the table the next meal after it is finished, which 
is generally dinner. A few pieces are eaten, and 
what is left appears again, just as it left the table, for 
supper. The next morning, diminished l\v a few 
pieces, it comes back for breakfast, ditto for dinner 
and supper. The next day it goes much slower, for, 

"Seen too oft, familiar with its face," 
one good look is enough to satisfy the most of those 
at the table. So it goes, until the last piece disap- 
pears and something else is made to take its place. 

Don't arrange your meals in this way. Have some 
dishes that are designed i^articularly for breakfast 
and serve them then and at no other time. Have 
others that are for dinner, and for tea the table should 
be set with something that has not been upon it 
before that day. By so doing you can keep up a 
variety with sn« all resources. Of course, bread and 
butter are to be on the table three times each day, 
and meat and potatoes come for both breakfast and 
dinner, but they need not be cooked exactly alike 
each time. If meat is used for tea, let it always be 
cold meat. Try to have two kinds of vegetables for 
dinner, and for breakfast also, if you have a sufficient 



BREAKFAST, di:n:nt;r and tea. 173 

variety ; but do not, except in the case of potatoes, 
have the same kind on the table twice a day for 
weeks in succession. 

breakfast. 

Perliaps no meal is so different in different parts of 
the country. Some people are satisfied with a cup of 
coffee and warm bread; others add an egg or a bit of 
meat, while others want as much on the breakfast 
table as would be necessary for both dinner and 
breakfast. Most people prefer a substantial break- 
fast, something more than a bit of toast and a cup of 
coffee ; yet it is not necessary to have a loaded table. 

So wliat shall the breakfast bill of fare be ? Coffee, 
of course ; meat, potatoes, warm bread, cookies or 
other plain cake, pickles or fruit. The meat must be 
something that can be quickly prepared; potatoes 
can be cooked in almost any way in the time that it 
takes to prepare the rest of the breakfast, and there is 
such a great variety of breakfast cakes, biscuit, griddle 
cakes, etc., that it is sometimes hard to choose from 
so long a list. As our space is limited we can give 
receipts for only a few dishes of each kind. First in 
the list comes 

COFFEE. 

When we consider the excellent coffee, good coffee, 
common coffee, poor coffee, wretched coffee, that 
people drink, we are satisfied that there are a great 
many ways of making coflee. There are perhaps 
more ways to make poor cofiee than to make cood 
coffee; yet all good coffee is not made just alike. 



174 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

It is usually maie by boiling, yet the very finest 
flavored cofFae is not boiled. The boiled coflFee is 
more stimulating, and those who love coffee, but can 
not drink it because it makes them nervous, will do 
well to try drinking coffee that is not boiled. They 
may find that they can drink it without injury. 

One coffee cup full of ground coftee, one egg well 
beaten, mix with one pint of cold water and pour into 
the boiler; pour in two quarts of boiling water; let 
all boil fifteen minutes, then set the boiler off and 
pour in a tea-cupful of cold water. 

Allow two heaping table-spoonfuls of coffee to a 
pint of water. Let the water be boiling when it is 
poured on the coffee. Cover it as tightly as possible, 
and let it boil one minute; then let it remain a few 
moments at the side of the range to settle. 

My own way is to wash and wipe the cofiee-pot dry 
every time it is used. Put into the coffee-pot one 
table- spoonful of cofiee for each person ; pour on 
enough boiling water to fill the coffee-pot, or as 
much as will be drank, set it on the back part of the 
stove, where it will be as hot as it can be without 
boiling, but does not boil, and let it stand about thirty 
minutes. Be sure the water boils when it is poured 
into the coffee-pot. 

But, whatever way jou make the coffee, alwags 
empty all the old grounds from the coffee-pot before 
the new is put in. 

MEATS. 

Of meats for breakfast, let us begin with a few 
receipts for cooking pork; an article which, in spite 
of the reproach heaped upon it by hygienists, is 



BREAKFAST, DHOITR AND TEA. 175 

still a favorite dish on the farmer's breakfast table. 

One of the best ways to cook fat, salt pork is to 
slice it thin, lay it in a fryin"; pan and fry it brown ; 
then pour off every drop of the fat and pour over it a 
cupful of thick, sweet cream. Let this come to a boil. 
Then take from the fire, and it is ready for the table. 
This is a very nice breakfast dish during the summer. 
Do not freshen the pork, as the salt is needed in the 
cream. 

Many farmers' wives think they cannot afford to 
use cream, because they want to make butter to sell. 
Better go without something you want to buy, for 
nothing can be more healthful, for children especially, 
than cream. 

Another good way is to slice the pork in thin slices, 
freshen it a little and roll it in Hour. Put in the 
frying pan a small lump of butter, and when it is hot 
put in the pork and keep the pan as hot as it can be 
without scorching, turning the pork frequently. It 
should be eaten as soon as it is done, for standing 
until it is cool spoils it. 

Breakfast bacon should be over the fire for about 
three minutes in a very hot frying pan. Ham needs 
but little cooking, the fat more than the lean. 

The best way to cook beefsteak is to broil it over 
the coals ; yet it €an be cooked very well in a 
hot frying pan. Put the frying pan over the fire (and 
make sure beforehand that it is a very hot fire), 
when it is hot grease it with a bit of lard or beef suet, 
then lay in the steak which has been well pounded. 
It should cover every part of the frying pan, for the 
uncovered parts will scorch and give a bitter flavor 
to the beef As soon as it begins to brown on one 
side, turn it, and keep turning it until it is evenly 



176 THE HOJIE ON THE FARM. 

browned on the outside and of a reddish color inside. 
Take it out into a hot platter in which is a little 
melted butter, sprinkle on a little salt and pepper and 
send to the table. 

Beefsteak and onions is a good dish for those who 
like onions. Peel a few onions and slice them, then 
when the steak is put into the frying pan cover it 
with the onions, then put on a tight cover to keep the 
steam in. Cook longer than you would the steak 
alone. Add butter and salt and pepper immediately 
before it is taken from the fire. 

Hash is another good breakfast dish. Chop the 
meat very fine, then add the potatoes, but do not 
chop them as fine as the meat. Have one half as 
much meat as potatoes, and let part of the meat be 
fat. Put into the frying pan a large Jump of butter, 
when it is melted add the hash, then salt and pepper 
it and pour on hot water enough to moisten it. Milk 
is better than water, but is more apt to scorch. Cold 
corned beef makes the best hash, but any kind of cold 
beef will do. 

Eggs are alwa3''s an excellent addition to the break- 
fast table. The.y are cooked in such a multitude of 
ways that it would be impossible to give but a frac- 
tion of them here, so we skip them all, only saying 
don't cook them too hard. 

POTATOES. 

One of the most popular cook books of the day 
gives sixteen different receipts for cooking potatoes ; 
yet of this number but three or four are used in farm- 
ers' families. The simplest way, that of boiling with 
the skins on, is the most common of all, and where 



BREAKFAST, DESWER AND TEA. 177 

the taste for it is acquired it is relished the best. The 
essential points in a well boiled potato are that it 
shall be dry and well done, no hard lumps in the mid 
die, and not watery on the outside. Put them into 
well salted hot water, and let them boil until nearly 
done, then pour oft' the water all but a spoonful or 
two, set the kettle back on the fire, cover it closely 
and let them finish cooking by the steam. They 
should be eaten as soon as done, for, no matter how 
carefully cooked, they are spoiled by standing. This 
is particularly true of baked potataes, so unless you 
are sure the family can come to the table as soon as 
the meal is read}^ do not bake your potatoes. 

For mashed potatoes, take small potatoes and take 
oft a very thin peeling, as the best part of the potato 
lies under the skin. Boil until just done, then pour 
oft' the water and return the kettle to the fire, as it is 
necessary that the potatoes be kept hot while being 
mashed. Add hot milk, butter, salt and pepper and 
mix thoroughly before taking from the fire. 

Another way to cook potatoes is to pare them,wash 
and wipe them dry and drop them into a kettle of 
hot lard, and when done take them out with a spoon, 
drain, and let them cool a little before you bring 
them to the table — or look out for burnt tongues. 

WARM BREAD. 

If warm bread is to be eaten at any time during 
the day, let it be for breakfast. That it is not as health- 
ful as cold bread is very certain, yet iew people can re- 
sist the temptation to eat warm cakes on a cold winter 
morning. Indian meal, buckwheat, middlings and 
Graham all cau be made to do good service on the 



178 THE HOaiB ON THE FARM. 

breakfast table, and pach family has its preference. 
We can give only a few receix)ts of a kind and begin 
with 

BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 

Scald two gills of Indian meal in one qnart of boil- 
ing water. Add a little salt. When cool add a gill 
of yeast, and stir in enough buckwheat flour to make 
a thin batter. Let it rise overnight. If, by chance, 
it is a little sour just before cooking, add one-fourth of 
a tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in half a cupful of 
boiling water. 

Pancakes made with bread crumbs are very good. 
Soak the bread crumbs over night in not very sour 
milk. In the morning add one egg and flour to make 
a thin batter, a little salt, and the last thing a little 
soda. 

Every farmer who takes wheat to mill to be ground 
into flour for his own use, has a quantity of the coarse 
flour called middlings. But few farmers' wives know 
that this coarse flour makes delicious breakfast cakes, 
being superior to buckwheat or Graham flour. Take 
one-half sweet milk and one-half buttermilk, or if the 
buttermilk is not very sour take all buttermilk, put 
in a little salt and soda enough to make it light, but do 
not stir the soda in. Then stir the middlings in as rap- 
idly as possible, and as soon as it is stirred in enough 
to wet it all, stop stirring and do not move the spoon 
again except to dip it out upon the griddle. If they 
are stirred too much they will be ropy and quite 
spoiled. Make the batter a little thicker and bake a 
little slower than for fine flour cakes. 

Toast is always a good thing for breakfast, that is, 



BREAKFAST, DDWER ANT) TEA. 179 

provided it is well made, and a dish of toast, docs not 
come amiss for the tea-table. Old bread makes better 
toast than new, but if obliged to toast the new, put it 
in the oven with the door open for ten or fifteen min- 
utes. Bread should always be toasted slowly, so that 
the inside oi the slice is dried through. Toast that is 
scorched on the outside and. sticky in the middle is 
poor stuff. After the bread is toasted put over the 
fire a pint (or more) of sweat cream, with a tea- 
spoonful of salt in it, and. when it boils pour it over 
the toast. Let it stand a few moments before eating. 

Or, have a basin of hot water well salted, and dip 
the pieces of toast in and out as quickly as jjossible, 
put it on a hot plattfr and let each one at the table 
butter it to suit himself. 

Of corn breakfast cakes there are many varieties, 
but the most of them are variations of the old formula : 
" One cup sweet milk, one cup of sour, 
Two cups of meal, and one cup of Hour." 

This is better if mixed over night, and in the morning 
just before putting in the oven stir in the salt and soda. 

HOE CAKE. 

Pour enough scalding water (or milk) on corn meal, 
salted, to make it rather moist. Let it; stand an hour 
or longer. Put two or three heaping table spoonfuls 
on a hot griddle, greased with pork or lard. Smooth 
over the surface, making the cake about half an inch 
thick and of a round shape. When browned on one 
side, turn and brown on the other. Serve very hot. 

FRUIT FOR BREAKFAST. 

There are farmers all over the country who have 



180 THE HOME ON THE FARM. 

fruit on their farms going to waste, who do not have 
it on their breakfast tables one quarter of the morn- 
ings during the year, unless it is a very little in a pie. 
This certainly should not be so, when so many of the 
common fruits are so easily prepared. Stewed apples, 
baked apples, fried apples, tomatoes, both cooked and 
raw, peaches and grapes, strawberries, raspberries and 
blackberries, cherries and currants, and melons, are 
all as well relished for breakfast as at any otlier meal. 
During the cold months when fresh fruit cannot be 
had, and more fat meats and grease are eaten, pickles 
of any kind are a good addition to the breakfast ta 
ble. 

Receipts for a few kinds of plain cake, suitable for 
breakfast, will be given at the end of the chapter. 

DINNER 

To know how to make a good soup is an accom- 
plishment to be proud of. An idea seems to prevail 
among those who do not know how to make them, 
that they are very hard to make, that there is some 
myster}^ connected with their composition that is not 
for common cooks to know. On the contrary, they are 
very easily made, the only difficulty being that they 
must be commenced a long time before dinner; the 
day before is best, and country housekeepers gener- 
ally prefer something that can be made in about half 
an hour. They look over the receipts for soups in 
their cook books and imagine they are designed for 
grand company dinners, and altogether too good for 
a common farmer's dinner. Don't think so ; don't 
think anything is too good for the farmer's table. 
Still tiiere are dishes that it takes a great deal of 



iBREAKFAST, DINKER AXB TEA. 1^1 

lime to prepare that are hardly worth the trouble 
when done. Every farmer's wife should know how 
to make one or two good soups, so we begin with one 
of the simplest and best of all. 

POTATO SOUP. 

Cut off four or five slices of salt pork, with some 
lean meat on it. Have them one-half an inch thick, 
and then cut each slice crosswit^e into half inch 
pieces. Put these into cold water (always use soft 
water for soup), with four or five cloves, as many 
whole black peppers, and a little summer savory, and 
boil for an hour and a half, dipping off'all the fat that 
rises on the water, then add four sliced onions, and 
after they have boiled a few moments six sliced po- 
tatoes. Have just enough water to cover them, so 
that when they are done they will be nearly dry, and 
let them boil until the potatoes are boiled to pieces. 
Take the potato masher and mash them fine, setting 
the kettle olf so they will not be scorched. Then 
take a pan of morning's milk and pour into the ket- 
tle, all the cream and enough of the milk to make 
about two quarts of soup. Set it back over the fire 
and let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally ; taste 
to see if it needs any more salt or pepper, and you 
have an excellent cream or potato soux^, just as you 
wish to call it. 

BEAN SOUP. 

Soak a cofi*ee cup full of be^ns over night, and put on 
next morning with a knuckle of veal. ij After four 
hours boiling take ofl' the liquor and strain it; pick oiF 



182 tHE HOME ON THE FARM. 

a few shreds of veal and return to the lire. Thicken 
with bran llonr, and flavor with ground spices, such 
as allspice, pepper and cloves. Slice a couple of 
hard boiled eirgs, a couple of slices of lemon in the 
ureen, then pour in the souj). 

^'The meat should be fresh and lean and juicy, to 
make the best soup. It is put into cold, clear water, 
which should be healed only moderately for the first 
half hour. The object is to extract the juices of the 
meat, and if jt be boiled too soon the surface will be- 
come coagulated, thereby imprisoning the juice with- 
in. After the first half hour, the pot should be placed 
at the back of the stove, allowing the soup to simmer 
for four or five hours." Let this stand and get cold, 
then take off all the grease. This forms the founda- 
tion for a great variety of soups all named from the 
different ingredients added to it. That most common- 
ly made is to add potatoes, onions, two or three 
cloves, a little parsley or summer savory, salt and 
pepper and boil until the vegetables are done. 

MEAT AND iTlGETABLES 

For dinner can be cooked in ways that require more 
time than in cooking breakfast meats. Roast beef, 
boiled corn beef, boiled salt pork, poultry of all kinds, 
mutton, and boiled ham, and, as the advertisements 
say, other dishes "too numerous to mention.''' Then 
through the whole list of vegetables there is nothing 
that cannot be used on the dinner table. Now it is 
not possible to go over all these, but only give a hint 
here and there. 

In the sprinp' when the fresh meats of winter are 
gone, and salt meats are the principal ones used, 



Breakfast, cnfiifER and tea. 188 

corned beef becomes a choice dish. Put it over in 
cold water, skim it often, and let it boil until thor- 
oughly done. Carrots are the best vegetable to boil 
with corned beef, although potatoes are used oftenest 
of any. Do not throw everything you have into the 
kettle with the beef, potatoes., onions, cabbage, tur- 
nips, carrots, and when done heap them up all on the 
same great dish, and think you have a good dinner! 

Always have some kind of a sour relish to eat with 
corned beef, horse-radish, made mustard, catsup, or 
else have chow-chow, or other sour pickles on the ta- 
ble. At no time is horse-radish so good as in the 
spring when the new growth is starting, and at no 
other time in the year is some kind of an ncid so much 
needed in our food as when the warm weather begins. 
Salt pork is boiled the same as corned beef. It is best 
eaten cold with a catsup. 

Dandelion greens should be on every farmer's ta- 
ble once a week, once a daj^ all through the spring 
would be far better. But when a woman must go all 
over the door yard and meadows, to find them, it is 
too great a task to gather them every day. A dande- 
lion bed that will grow all that is wanted would be 
a great convenience. They should be boiled very ten- 
der in well salted water, or water in which meat has 
been boiled. 

Fish should come on the table about as often as 
they can be obtained, which is not very often in the 
country. Salt fish can be had at any time and are a 
good summer dish, cod-fish being liked perhaps the 
best of any. 

A good way to cook cod-fish is to pick it up in small 
pieces and soak in cold water for half an hour. Put 
some new milk over the fire in a stew pan and when 



i^i THE HOSiE ON THE J'ARit. 

it boils press all the water out of the cod-fish and 
throw it into the boiling milk. Let it boil a minute, 
then thicken with a table-spoonful of flour and add 
a large piece of butter. Mashed potatoes or toast are 
the best accompaniments for cod-fish. 

As the summer comes and vegetables are more 
abundant, they should form the principal part of the 
dinner, although meats should not be entirely given 
up, especially by those doing hard work. Those who 
have access to a good market do not lose anything 
by getting a good steak or roast occasionally. It is 
far better to keep up one's strength during haying 
than alcohol. Dried beef can be used to better ad- 
vantage now than at other times, and chicken should 
be on the table at least once a week. To boil a 
chicken, always put it into boiling water unless you 
want to make a soup of it, when it should be put into 
cold water. 

Boiled vegetables retain their flavor better by drop- 
ping them into hot salted water. Never try to boil 
peas or beans in hard water. If you have no soft 
water put a few pieces of charcoal into a pan of water 
overnight; make a little filter by breaking the bot- 
tom out of an old jug, turning it upside down in a 
pan, filling the neck full of cotton batting and the 
jug half full of charcoal. A sufficient amount of wa- 
ter will drain through this during the night to cook 
the vegetables next day. 

As the cold weather comes heavier meats or 
greasier dinners can be eaten. Meat pies are relished 
now if ever; a good receipt for which is as follows: 

Cut cold cooked meat into quite small dice; add 
pepper and salt, a little nutmeg and two or three sprigs 
of chopped parsley, also a little thyme and a bay leaf 



BREAKFAST, DmNER AND TEA. 185 

if you have them, but the two latter herbs may be 
omitted. Put a little butter into a sauce pan, and 
when hot stir in a table-spoonful of flour, pour in sev- 
eral table-spooufals of hot water, mix well; then in- 
troduce the meat dice, stir all well over the fire, cook- 
ing thoroughly. Just before taking it up stir in 
two or three eggs. It should be quite moist, yet con- 
sistent. Put a thin pie crust into a pudding dish. 
Fill in a few spoonfuls of the mixture, then lay on a 
very thin strip of bacon ; continue these layers until 
the dish is full. Now fit a piece of crust over the top, 
turning the edges in a fancy manner, and make a cut 
in the center. Take a strip of pie crust, makea tie or 
knot, wet the bottom and pla-^e it over the cut so as 
not to obstruct the opening. Bake. 

But whatever your dinner is and at v/hatever time 
of the year do not have too great a variety on the 
table at once. Spend the time that it would require 
in ijreparing the greater number in perfecting tliose 
that you do cook. One kind of meat is enough for 
any dinner, and if you have two well cooked vege- 
tables, it is about all that will be eaten. 

DESSERT. 

It is strange that most housekeepers always in- 
sist on having pie for dessert when there are so many 
kinds of simple puddings that are easily made. One 
reason is supposed to be that a number of pies can 
be made atone time, and but one pudding. Of course 
a newly made pie of any fresh fruit is an excellent 
finish for any dinner, but at times of the year when 
fruit is not fresh, and when the pie happens to be two 
or three days old — give us something else ! Any good 

12 



186 ftiE aosrE on the farm. 

cook book can teach you how to make a dozen diffef^ 
ent puddings that are not expensive and yet are ex- 
cellent. Perhaps the best of all is that old favorite, a 
bread pudding, for which the following receipt is the 
best: 

Two slices of bread soaked in a quart of milk and 
mashed fine. Add four well beaten eggs, three-fourths 
of a cup of sugar, a little salt, and one cup of stoned 
raisins. Bake one liour and a half, stirring it occa- 
sionally the first half hour. 

A dish of fresh fruit is a good dessert for a meat 
dinner ; but whatever your dessert is alwaj^'s have 
clean dishes to serve it in. 



TEA. 



Bread and butter, cold meat, any kind of stewed, 
baked, canned or preserved fruit, cake, and tea. In 
many places a hearty supper of meat and vegetables 
is prepared at the close of the day, but after eating 
two warm meals this seems to be unnecessary. 
For the preservation of health always eat a light sup- 
per. 

Directions for making bread are given at the close 
of the chapter. Country people are always supposed 
to eat good butter, as they make it themselves, still 
it is a sad fact that a great deal of poor butter is eaten, 
in the country homes. As a rule, however, more good 
butter is eaten in the country than good bread, for 
good butter has a moneyed commercial value, while 
good bread has not. The result is that there is a con- 
stant improvement in butter making that the highest 
price may be obtained, while bread making goes on 
in the same old round. 



BREAKFAST, DUvTITER AND TEA. 187 

The bread and butter on the tea-table should be 
the very best than can be obtained, for they form the 
principal part of the meal — all the others are side 
dishes. 

In making tea always throw out all the old grounds 
and scald the tea-pot, before the tea is put in. Then 
be very sure that the water in the tea-kettle is boiling 
before it is poured on the tea. Many a good cup of 
tea is ruined by neglect of this simple rule. During 
the summer cold tea is an excellent drink. Make it 
at noon, pour it all off the grounds into a clean earth- 
en teapot or pitcher, and set in a cool place until tea 
time. It should be very cold. 

GKEEN TOMxiTO PICKLES. 

Take half a bushel of green tomatoes, wash and 
slice them with one dozen onions, a few blades of 
garlic and half a dozen green pepper pods; sprinkle 
them in layers Avith a little salt and let them stand 
all night. The next morning rinse and drain them 
well, then mix well together one ounce pulverized 
ginger, one ounce allspice, one ounce mace, one 
ounce celery seed, one ounce mixed mustard, and one 
pound of sugar. Tut a layer of tomatoes and a layer 
of spices alternately in a kettle, cover with very 
strong vinegar and boil until tender. 

cnow-cnow pickle. 

Ingredients: One peck of green tomatoes, half a 
peck of ripe tomatoes, half a dozen onions, three heads 
of cabbage, one dozen, green peppers and three red 
peppera. 



188 THE HOilE ON THE FAR5I. 

Chop them any size you choose, then sprinkle half 
a pint of salt over them. Put them into a coarse cot- 
ton bao; and let them drain twenty-four hours. Put 
them into a kettle with three pounds of brown sua;ar, 
half a teacupful of gi ated horseradish, one tablespoon- 
ful each of ground black pepper, ground mustard, 
white mustard, mace, and celery seed. Cover all with 
vinegar and boil until clear. 

FRIED CAKES. 

Put a sufficient amount of flour, about three pints, 
into a pan, then put in two teacupfuls of sugar, a lit- 
tle salt, two well beaten eggs, and last a teaspoonful 
ot soda. Into a p'nt bowl put four tablespoonfuls of 
thick, sour cream, and fill the bowl up with butter- 
milk, pour this into the pan with the other ingre- 
dients and mix all together. Roll out, cut in strips 
and twist into rings and fry in hot lard. 

PLAIN COOKIES. 

One cupful of butter, two cupfuls of sugar, one cup- 
ful of milk, two eggs, about a quart of flour, three 
teaspoonfuls of baking powder, or one teaspoonful of 
cream of tartar and half a teaspoonful of soda. 

SOFT YEAST. 

Peel, boil and mash five or six^ood sized potatoes, 
and stir them into the quart of w^ater they were 
boiled in ; then add a pint of water in which a large 
handful of hops have boiled about five minutes. Stir 
thoroughly, adding two-thirds of a tea-cupful of white 



BREAKFAST, DD7NER AND TEA. 189 

or light colored sugar and a little ginger. When so 
)cool as not to scald it, add two well soaked yeast 
cakes or a tea- cupful of good soft yeast. Keep warm 
until light, then stir in one-half a tea-cupful of salt, 
and when it rises again it is ready to put away in a 
a jar in a cool place. 

WHITE BREAD. 

Take a quart of hot water, not so hot that it will 
scald the Hour, stir in flour until it is quite thick, add 
one tea-cupful of soft yeast and keep in a warm place 
until it rises. Then knead in Hour until it Vvill not 
stick to the board. Let it stand until it is very light ; 
if mixed at night it can stand until morning. Then 
knead once more, and when it is light again v. ork 
into loaves and put it in bread tins, and when it rises 
a little, bake in an oven hot enough to have small 
loaves well done in forty-live minutes. 

BR0W:N BREAD. 

To one quart of light white bread sponge add one- 
half a cup of warm wf 'er and half a cup of molasses. 
Add sifted grnham flour until it is as thick as it can 
be stirred willi a spoon. Put this into two deep bread 
pans, and when it is very light, in a hot oven. 

GOOD nop YEAST. 

To make good hop yeast that will keep the year 
around: take two handfuls of hops, boil them in one 
quart of water till the strength is out, then strain the 
W^ter oil' of the hops into a pint and a half of flour 



190 THE HOME ON THE FARM, 

to make into a batter ; if too thick, add more water; 
if too thin, more Hour; put in half a table-spoonful 
of SiUt, and half a teaspoonful of pulverized alum, 
and have ready a tin two-thirds full of good hop yeast 
ready soaked ; .turn it into the batter and stir it weE 
then set it in a warm place to rise ; when it has risen, 
etir down and let rise again, then have ready enough 
corn meal to turn the rising into it ; knead it well so 
as to form a stiff dough, so that you can cut it with a 
knife into cakes, about halt an inch thick, then lay it 
on a clean board to rise in a warm place, as soon as 
risen set in the open air to dry as soon as possible. 
This is excellent yeast. 



KALSOMEsE. 

To give one room two coats requires: Ten pounds 
whiting dissolved in boiling water, one-fourth pound 
of glue (put to soak the night before in one pint of 
water) should be melted slowly now on the back part 
of the stove. Two ounces of ultra-marine blue and 
one ounce of Venetian red must be mixed separately 
with cold soft water, and then strained through a thin 
cloth each into a separate vessel. Stir, now, the whit- 
ing well, and if too thick add more hot water and 
strain through a flour sieve into a good sized pot. Add 
some of the blue and red alternately till the desired 
shade is obtained. This may be ascertained by put- 
ting a little on a piece of paper and drying before the 
fire. When the shade is satisfactory, pour in the glue, 
mixing well. Apply the wash to the walls while hot. 
Brush in any direction, as it looks better than if done 



tJftEAKFAST, DIXK-EK AXD TEA. 191 

too carefully. On \yhite walls two coats Avill be 
necessary. If the mixture is to be used again the 
next day it must be repeated. A paper border is 
used to finish the room. 

A BRILLIANT STUCCO WHITEWASH. 

Take clean lumps of well-burnt lime, slack in hot 
water, in a small tub, and cover it to keep in the 
steam. It should then be passed through a fine sieve 
in a fluid form to obtain the flour of lime. Add one- 
quarter of a poitnd of whiting or burnt alum, two 
pounds of sugar, three pints of rice flour made into a 
thin and very well boiled paste, and one pound of 
glue dissolved over a slow fire. It is said to be more 
brilliant than plaster of Paris, and will last fifty years. 
It should be put on warm with a paint brush. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS "l 




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